Terry Alderton

Terry Alderton—as seen on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow—is a man of many voices and multiple personalities.

Alderton’s main gimmick involves turning away from the audience in order to talk to the voices in his head. It’s a neat trick, and the arguments between the parts of his split-psyche deliver the most consistent laughs of the show. Even when not communing with his demons, Alderton’s frenzied approach allows him a lot of leeway. Middling jokes are made funny by the force of his delivery, and at one point he’s able to escape a failing routine by "rewinding" it live on stage.

Without getting too high-minded, the manic persona satirises the stereotype of the "psychologically damaged" comedian. As such, Alderton’s at his best when pushing the clichés of standup comedy to their breaking point, highlighting the insanity of observing everything in life and the inherent creepiness of playing favourites with audience members. In full flow he successfully reduces most other standups’ shtick to their base - silly noises.

However, Alderton falls for a few clichés of his own. Imitations of small people and call centre workers are mundane, and even come close to being offensive. Also, for a man with such a versatile voice, he’s surprisingly terrible at regional accents. These old-fashioned elements don’t fit with the more interesting deconstruction happening elsewhere.

If Alderton dispensed with the mainstream pandering, this could be exceptional. He may hear voices, but in the end he seems to be held back by his own nagging doubts.