Arriving at Cheltenham Town Hall in the pouring rain, I did not know what to expect of Milton Jones.

Familiar with his face through appearances on Mock the Week amongst other shows, I was not quite sure if his glut of madcap one-liners would translate well to the stage. Needless to say I had nothing to worry about.

The performance started out on a high. While it is common knowledge that comedians employ ‘warm-up’ acts before a show to see their material given the warmest reception possible, Jones bucked the trend.

He was his own support act, that is to say he donned a dressing gown and pyjama bottons and introduced himself as his own grandfather, spinning grand yarns that led nowhere but invariably led to the audience erupting in laughter.

Expectations subverted, we avidly looked forward to the next part of the performance, expecting Jones to go backstage for a quick costume change then come back and start the performance proper. Then of course the real warm-up act came out, Chris Martin (not affiliated with Coldplay). Martin’s humour was serviceable, drawing easy laughs from the crowd, however it lacked the unique edge that defines Jones’ appeal.

Eventually Jones came out in familiar form: mad thousand-yard stare, shockingly colourful shirt/trouser combo and the lion’s mane that he calls a hairdo, carefully teased in a hundred separate directions. After a brief interaction with a member of the audience, he gleefully jumped headfirst into the best of his material, which just kept coming.

Suffice it to say that Jones has a commanding stage presence and a deep knowledge of the mechanical aspects of his material. He can twist his jokes in any direction to suit a wide variety of situations.

As the one-liners came flying, the audience were reduced to tears and Jones seemed to revel in it. An excellent night out, very easy to whole-heartedly recommend.

 

Sean Cameron