Tom Basden

With a show entitled Tom Basden Won’t Say Anything, I had partially been expecting this to be on the same lines as last year’s Oh: A Cut-Throat Comedy by Claire Hooper where she literally uttered not a single word until the very last moment. But here, the Cowards member doesn’t quite limit his sonic delivery to singing quirky tunes as he does technically whisper the odd spoken line. Any arch mute fundamentalists who demand a silent show to be exactly thus should stay away. For the rest of us, a genuine treat is in store.
Tom Basden’s deliriously fun musical numbers are aided by images, jokes and his own art doodlings projected onto a screen with subjects ranging from lots of top five lists, the funeral of Robbie Williams, the enigma that is Richard Madeley and why 24’s Jack Bauer has lost touch with his real friends, both physically and spiritually. Of course, the phrase ‘musical comedy’ is often an immediate ticket repellent for some people, this reviewer included. But the likes of David O’Doherty and Tom Basden are doing a sterling effort in giving the much-derided form a very good name.
Underbelly, 0870 745 3083, until 26 Aug (not 13), 7.35pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).