Jordan Brookes: The Part Of You That’s Always Screaming comedy review – An ingenious hour
Brookes’ unique approach to observational comedy shines in a show packed with invention
Jordan Brookes has always been known for his high-concept approach to stand-up, so even this relatively conventional hour of psychologically fraught observations still hinges on a remarkable feat of ingenuity. Brookes effectively stretches a 45-second encounter into an hour-long examination of performance both on stage and in real life. If that all sounds a bit highfalutin, his typically intellectualised ideas are mainly conveyed via manic impersonations of trains, profoundly silly ruminations on the human condition and cockney ditties about croissants.
Underneath his incredible array of guttural movements and brash sight gags, Brookes continues to assume a refreshingly vulnerable persona (his bit about being a ‘shagger’ is an anti-macho highlight). While other comics scratch at the surface of observational comedy with relatable anecdotes, he’s become a master of burrowing inwards and turning his deep-seated insecurities and paranoias into a slapstick-infused, gurning dose of madness.
Even with the strong connective tissue of his personal anxieties and a phenomenal running gag about 1896 silent film The Arrival Of A Train At La Ciotat Station, this year’s hour is less interested in its central conceit and more in morphing a grab bag of everyday eccentricities into pockets of beautiful weirdness, illustrating that Brookes’ real strength has always lain in a prolific gag rate rather than structural innovations. While it may not contain the wide-eyed ambition of Fontanelle or I’ve Got Nothing, this is a performer still very much at the top of his game.
Jordan Brookes: The Part Of You That’s Always Screaming, Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 9.45pm; picture: Kit McCarthy.