After winning the 2005 So You Think You’re Funny award, Tom Allen is back with a whole hour dedicated to his mother. Well, not entirely. In fact, his show does mention his family, just as much as he mentions airports, Edinburgh’s tram system, Facebook or death. And here lies the main, and only, problem with Allen’s routine. Though the show promises a tale about finding his family roots and his relationship with his own mother, Allen spends much of his time divagating about things completely not related to his main subject. In all fairness, he is actually much funnier when he wanders of from the ‘parent issue’, but this lack of coherence in the whole act, the missing of a unifying theme that ties the whole hour, does show a couple of times, making you wonder where it is all going, or where it is, indeed, coming from.
Tom Allen starts the show with a bang, he grabs the audience’s attention quickly, and has them laughing at every joke in the space of minutes. Allen knows his audience, and works this to his advantage, knowing when to change the subject, or when he can push the punch-line that little bit further. His standout moment, a dissertation on the online social phenomenon of Facebook and death itself is worth the price of the ticket alone, while his comments on airports, hen parties and flying have some laugh out loud moment.
It is in the final third act that Allen looses momentum, and the lack of unifying themes, or a sense of direction whatsoever becomes a bit too obvious, which is quite a pity, since Allen demonstrates a wit and attention to detail which some comedians out there can only hope to imitate.
3/5 
Adrian G. Velazquez
