OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 27 February 2009

Phil Nichol

COMEDIAN Phil Nichol erupted on to the stage like a comic genie escaping after thousands of years trapped in a bottle. His energy level was frenetic from the outset and never dipped for the whole of his hour-long performance as he rampaged about the stage, easily switching from physical comedy to storytelling and anecdotes with musical interludes thrown in.

With his long hair, stocky figure and bushy beard he looked like an impish Neanderthal who had just discovered jokes and was entertaining his tribe with a wicked delight.

Although the theatre was half empty, Nichol’s personality easily filled the spaces, and he soon had the audience applauding his mastery of the craft of stand up. Nichol is a classically trained actor and this was evident in his acting out of scenarios and in the bewildering number of accents he was able to produce at will. At one point he even turned on a little Shakespeare to prove he could do it.

Although Nichol stayed with relatively safe subjects – his father’s religious attitudes and accidentally dating a gay man – he delivered his material with such accuracy, pace and skill that everyone in the theatre was fascinated by the cave man’s quick wit.

Occasionally he did stray across the invisible line of what the audience was happy to accept and, on these few occasions, he quickly got the crowd back on side with his natural charm and the warmth of his personality.

Nichol’s performance was stand up at its best, an uninhibited rampage through life’s pitfalls and the unintended consequences of trying to get along with as little hassle as possible.

In terms of awards Nichol appears to have frequently been the bridesmaid but rarely the bride with a host of nominations for awards such as a nomination for the Perrier for his Edinburgh show: Things I Like, I Lick in 2002 and a Chortle award nomination for best male circuit comic 2002. With material as well honed as his, awards are surely on their way.

Nichol was supported by Scottish comedian Stephen Carlin, who opened the show with a short set. Carlin contrasted with his headliner in his restrained and slightly nervous demeanour. Despite his apparent lack of confidence his material was well observed and concisely delivered by a man who is clearly still developing his talents but of whom we will certainly hear more of in the future.

What worked very well on the night was structuring the show with a support act performing before the interval and the headline act coming on after. It can often be difficult for comedians who have to negotiate an interval in the middle of their act as the atmosphere they develop in the first half of their show can be hard to re-kindle in the second. This format followed by these two Gilded Balloon comedians overcame the obstacle of the interval very successfully.

Nichol finished his act with his hugely funny song, ‘The Only Gay Eskimo (In My Tribe)’, performed in a range of styles including Presley and Morrissey, displaying an impressive musical talent. Overall this was a great show and we were able to see a comedian at the top of his game clearly enjoying what he did and passing on that enjoyment everyone in the audience.

(Note – the comedian seems to get his surname spelled both Nchol and Nichol in random fashion – Eden Court use both on their web publicity. I have opted to follow his website and impose Nichol – Ed.)

© John Burns, 2009

Links

• Phil Nichol
• John Burns at Purple Comedy