Peter Brush: Dreams with Advert Breaks

Peter Brush makes reference to how his stage demeanour is always commented upon in reviews. Sorry, but here's another.

Brush has a peculiarly deadpan style, lacking eye contact with the crowd; it's true that he isn't a natural performer, as many have commented before. But Christ does he know how to write a gag. Plus, the subdued stage presence and his sleight white-skinned frame does allow for a great running gag comparing him to one his comedy heroes.

This an hour of killer gags, tripping from his mind one after another with no let up in quality. It's an almost textbook approach. The show is about his childhood, he tells us, a nice loose theme that allows him to squeeze in plenty of fine jokes. The jokes themselves have a just a touch of otherworldly edge to them, making them stand out, and punchlines are often unexpectedly left field. If anything gets too weird he just questions whether it was a dream or a memory as, he confesses, the two are beginning to mix in his head. There are routines about his sperm beginnings, his granddad's diminishing Christmas cards, and Wally from the Where's Wally? books appears like a ghostly figure from boyhood.

The accidental subtlety of his persona is what holds him back from being frankly brilliant. Maybe he could turn it into a gimmick, though you get the impression he would probably balk at the thought. In the meantime he's a slow-burn favourite.