Tim Key - Norwich Playhouse

I have missed seeing Mr Key several times in Norwich, but am so glad I finally made it for this, his Single White Slut show. The auditorium was totally rammed with a mostly in-their-30’s-and-40’s audience, who all seemed mega excited. Tim was already on stage as we all filed in, wearing a jaunty jumpsuit and nonchalantly flicking pornographic playing cards onto an actual bed on stage. I’ve never once been to a show where the act was already there when I arrived…I wondered if perhaps the whole audience had turned up 30 mins late or something! Anyway, it gave the start of the show a very relaxed and inclusive feel. Tim started off his 75 minute show by crying at us “Why the fuck are we here??? On a Saturday night???”He explained the show is about beds, and bedding and trying to bed, and he had actually brought his own bed with him on tour. His act consisted of a series of hilariously offbeat anecdotes, which it was impossible to tell whether they were true, or partly true, or entirely lies…from accidently almost sleeping with someone’s grandma to attempting a threesome in India to the strains of We Have To Talk About Kevin on audiobook. Interspersed with this, a couple audience members were brought up onstage to have chats with Tim and there was even a spot of interpretative dance between him and a fantasy lady. He’s an incredibly likeable and handsome fellow, not to mention very very funny with a dry sense of humour. He’s very confident onstage, and also self deprecating which is always an attractive trait in a comedian. He also treated us to a few of his poems, which are majorly surreal but genius all the same. I’ll be going along next time, to hear more of his sluttish attempts to love and be loved.