Review: Tom Allen stops off at the Cambridge Corn Exchange

Tom Allen, a regular on our TV screens, brought his latest stand-up show, Completely, to the Cambridge Corn Exchange on Friday, 16 February.

The venue seemed pretty much full and, after taking the stage to a very warm reception, the well-dressed comedian, presenter and writer (tonight he was wearing corduroy, as was I, coincidentally) commented on how long it was, noting later that the venue he performed at in King’s Lynn last year (a man on the front row had attended that one too, we learned) was also very long. He suggested it must be an “East Anglia thing”.

After some initial and rather enjoyable banter with the audience, the charismatic star introduced his warm-up act, Louise Young, a Geordie who is half-Turkish.

Much of her comedy derived from her origins and, while she seemed to go down well with the crowd at large, I didn’t warm to her quite as much as many of those around me appeared to.

Tom came back out and did some ‘crowd work’. His camp mannerisms, witty observations and biting comebacks were really rather amusing and he managed to draw out some memorable moments – and some more forgettable moments – from a number of people seated in the first few rows.

After the interval, he returned with the ‘main show’ which looked at, among other things, him moving out of his parents’ house, living in a house on the same street where his old school is (“I went back to get bullied a second time”), inviting friends with children around for dinner, and being in a relationship.

I love watching Tom on TV as he comes across on that medium as very likeable and calm.

On stage, however, he is a lot more animated and ‘agitated’ (I guess you have to be to try and keep the energy levels up) and his rants were a mixed bag of funny (the trials and tribulations of buying a mattress was a particular highlight, as were some his childhood memories involving his late father) to not-quite-so-funny.

[Read more: Comedian Tom Allen: ‘I was just born sounding posh’]

Although I at no point was laughing uncontrollably with tears streaming down my face, I did laugh out loud on quite a few occasions, which is obviously a good thing, and felt overall that this was a very entertaining evening spent in the company of a highly skilled performer who may well be at the top of his game.

For more information on Tom Allen, visit tomindeed.com.