Tom Craine: Choirboy to Addict and Back Again

Despite his complaints about the stuffy Pleasance Hut (“like gigging in a shoe”), this tiny venue suits Tom Craine quite well. With an act loosely based on endearing anecdotes from his life, he works the intimate setting well and builds a warm rapport with the audience from the off.

Delivered in a Rowan Atkinson-esque voice full of stutters, squeaks and the odd rolling ‘r’, almost every line raises a smile, as well as some chuckles and a few knowing stares from parents when Craine talks about his young nephews.  

Although rather young compared to most comedians chasing the ‘feel-good’ market, Craine fares well without producing truly memorable moments. There are peaks and troughs: while material about his nephew’s taste in dinosaurs works well, an impression of a precocious child Mozart feels forced.

However, the lines that really bring out Craine’s potential are those that seem most out of character. His imaginings of a corrupted Santa Claus and some snide asides on the cult of Princess Di show how he could be a sharper, crueller and probably funnier comic if he only allowed his dark side a freer rein.

The best material comes at the end, as he relates a wonderfully unpleasant mix-up involving a disembodied anus. Immediately, he adds: “Too unpleasant? I’m not taking it out.” Removing the anus is the last thing he should do. With a little more work in this direction, Tom Craine could be very funny indeed.