Tom Price: Say When

Tom Price has a face you’ll recognise, even if you can’t put a name to it. This year, the Torchwood actor talks about wanting to stop embarrassing situations before they get too excruciating.

Price is too warm a personality to let his childhood memories and showbiz anecdotes become truly cringeworthy. Similarly, his self-consciously "shocking" gags, usually about dated celebrities, ring hollow. His initial material about being an old-before-his-time middle-class boy is far from promising.

It’s that face that’s the real star. Open and boyish, Price is able to radically shift modes with small, precise changes to the curve of his lip, or the twinkle of his eye. It betrays his skill as an actor, and possibly explains why he’s most animated during stories about his career. The strongest punchline is simply a close-up photograph of his eyes.

The show is exceptionally tightly structured: clever in a way that only becomes apparent at the end. The slickness is almost off-putting and despite the confessional tone, you’re always aware this is a performance. When Price announces “I’ve never told anyone this before,” you simply don’t believe him.

Indeed, the show is ultimately hampered by Price’s desire to remain in total control. As such, it doesn’t quite earn its humorous and emotional pay-offs. Price may want to "say when" before things go too far, but the Fringe is not a time for moderation.