Joey Page @ Gilded Balloon, The Counting House
Joey Page's offbeat show hasn't yet reached its potential
Skiing to Joy Division in your sister’s tracksuit sounds like a great way to open a show on paper. Strangely, it fails to land live and by the sounds of it, isn't Joey Page’s favourite part of latest show Jowie either.
He's performing to an audience that seems oddly more prepared for a saner, more middle-of-the-road comedy hour than one by Page. He eventually wins over some of the crowd with bizarre wordplay and a heavily Vic Reeves-inspired set of quiz questions and characters. Another highlight is the introduction of ‘Underwhelming Kanye’, whereby a crudely drawn cut out of Kanye West boasts about having an ordinary life and stopping the petrol meter on £20 exactly. However, his anecdotes about anxiety dreams and inside-out scotch eggs are a little long-winded, and more representative of how the hour goes overall.
If the show was a fully paid-ticket affair, the audience might be more disappointed, but as an hour of cheap, offbeat fun it’s worth a punt – Jowie will find its footing soon.
Joey Page: Jowie, Gilded Balloon at the Counting House (Sitting Room), 3-29 Aug (not 15), 2.30pm, £5 / PWYW