Colin Hoult: Characthorse

Many comedians walk the absurdist tightrope. Some do it for distinctiveness, some because topical stuff has a shelf life, others because they’re generally just a bit nuts. If they nail it—as comedians including Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and Tony Law have demonstrated over the years—it can be the best gig in comedy, but oversell it and you risk alienating your audience.

Colin Hoult’s Characthorse is a perfect example of all the little wobbles that can occur on the way to the other side. Here, he takes us on a surreal journey to find the titular Characthorse, inspired by his mother's mispronunciation of "characters". We’re accompanied down Kingswood Road towards ‘Snottingham’, where rowdy Transformers perform for each other in strip clubs, belligerent penguins scream at the audience and people’s faces are taken from them in front of their eyes (with no Nicolas Cage in sight).

Much of this adventure is tantalisingly bizarre, as Hoult throws himself overboard and fully into his cycle of characters. Patrick Stewart makes an appearance as the show’s host—and also performs a standup stint—which proves to be the most triumphant aside. Hoult sticks his middle finger up to critics throughout, however, and actually this moaning and whinging over critical judgment detracts from solid material. Not only does it dilute the absurd humour by bringing it back to the everyday, it just comes across as indulgent and petty in a set which is otherwise tireless and creative.