Matthew Highton: Shadowed Vagary

As the room darkens, the lights begin flashing and the War of the World’s soundtrack plays. This is weird. It goes on for what seems like ages, and many of the audience have to look away from the flashing lights. Making your audience feel queasy is perhaps not the best way to begin a show.

Highton is instantly likeable and engaging. He has a unshakeable boyish energy, and endeavours to involve his whole audience. The show contains highly fictional stories in highly ordinary settings which catch you off guard. His humour is light and uplifting, and he is full of imagination, but there are occasions when the show runs away with itself and his delivery simply isn’t strong or structured enough to hold it down.

Highton struggled with a tough audience and his oversensitivity to the noise in the next room. His material is good, with high-brow, low-brow, film reference, music reference, observational, and dreamland jokes all in the mix, but he seems to lose control at times; his delivery is crying out for a firmer hand.

Though it could be hard to tell where the show was headed, the finale ties everything together and is an excellent pay off. Highton has all the basics, but some polishing up is required.