Just as night follows day, Robin Ince is linked to Ricky Gervais and is known for being his touring partner and general punch-bag. Having only witnessed Ince getting frustrated at Gervais’ constant torment, it is not without shock to see Ince as a little ball of energy run on stage and be truly captivating and hilarious.
As expected Ince uses bizarre books to get laughs and there is nothing funnier than grown men trying to work out what is the best book about giant crabs. Yet whilst Ince is hard to fault, the gem of this show is that it is not plain stand-up. It is certain that Ince could hold an audience for an hour and get them to chuckle but he doesn’t sit on his laurels, he wants to make them roar with laughter. To do so, he has enlisted different performers to make The Book Club a variety performance to remember.
Containing tap dancing, opera, musical numbers and comedic dance to help visualise poems about love, it is hard to ascertain whether this is actually a show or just some people messing about and having a laugh. Whatever their motive for doing it though, the result is an hour of comedy that is annoyingly short and leaves you wanting more.
What Ince has done is create a show that is gut wrenchingly funny. Here is a man who should no longer be in the shadow of any other.
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Will Searle
