Joey Page: This is Not a Circus

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Anyone who has seen standup comedian Joey Page on TV will know that there’s always a risk of getting motion sickness as the camera follows him. Watching him as he darts his way from left to right, prowling like a cheekier version of Alex DeLarge, can be like staring at a Newton’s cradle. His new live show This is Not a Circus maintains that shattering physical style in a gig full of puns, pauses and prizes.

We’re quickly told that the show is not about circus acts, but vices. That conceit is also dispelled, however, and we discover it’s actually about gameshows (Page’s central vice, he confesses). This type of meandering, unravelling narrative sums up both Page and his show. With huge, Russell Brand-like anecdotes on Ant and Dec, his ex-girlfriend and members of the audience, Page’s loquacious, articulate style can be as tiring to watch as it must be to perform.

When Page is in top gear, he really rockets through the show and the hour is almost at risk of getting away from us altogether. But he’s installed annoyingly clumsy and punctured sections involving his technician which, after interruption number four, completely gut the show’s energy and pace. He is a wordsmith and a marvellous raconteur, so it’s completely bizarre that he’s chosen to fill around a quarter of his show with peripheral guff. Perhaps adding gimmicks to this show is the very vice Page could give up.