Stewart Francis: Pun Gent
The Assembly Rooms until 30th
Verdict: four Stars
There are few comedians capable of delivering a laugh a minute. One who can is Stewart Francis who has been doing this for over 20 years, which is a lot of minutes.
Appearing from the thick plume created by the smoke machines, Francis sets about giving the audience what they want. There is no extensive build up, just straightforward jokes that set the crowd off immediately.
Advertisement
The topics, as you would expect, are wide and far ranging, from playful safe jokes about mining conventions being boring to some pretty off colour gags that leave the audience genuinely aghast - but not for long as Francis rarely allows people any time to breathe before he has unloaded another half dozen bombs.
Of course jokes aren’t enough. There is a physicality to much of what Francis does and his deadpan stare is often funnier than some of his corny gags. On this night, Francis was the unfortunate victim of some technical faults that cut off his microphone mid-jokes and punchlines. But this didn’t dampen the fun; it was almost refreshing to see a comedian so reliant on timing and delivery being tripped up when he came to his big moments. Francis, as one would expect, took it all in his stride.
There are no surprises here, but Francis’ ability to dream up ridiculous one liners for any situation remains sharp and fans will not be disappointed. He is at the top of his game with a brand of humour that can’t go out of fashion, for the simple reason that it’s so very funny.
Reviewed by Peter Docherty for the News Academy