Paul Foot: The Future

 By Ollie Wilson

With the name Paul Foot, I suppose it was inevitable that he would turn to politics in the end, like his political journalist namesake. 

I have been observing the comedian Paul Foot's career on and off for around 30 years from the days when he played the small clubs of London in the mid-1990s, and his persona has certainly changed a lot in that time. Now he seems to lurch around the stage, always at risk of falling, although the audience clearly loves it.

Paul is a University of Oxford mathematics graduate and has applied his knowledge of calculus and science in general to the political sphere. He does it with the panache of a super-intelligent stand-up making something complex and convoluted into something simple and absurd.  I loved his 'good sign' material - frequently called back and taken on a surreal flight of fancy. But I must confess I was bemused by his trams and shot-putter routine. I just didn't get it, till, towards its end, I realised he had actually said 'trans' and not 'trams'. Maybe, I need a hearing test!

It is interesting see that three decades on, Paul Foot is reverting to some of the wild ways of the nineties London comedy circuit, with abortive crowd work, extreme characterisation of his persona and a mixture of compassion and ruthlessness in his set. The audience absolutely adored it.

I didn't entirely buy into the sincere bit at the end. But what Paul really thinks doesn't matter to me. He's a brilliant comic and this is a courageous and great show!

Star rating: *****