Friday 10 May 2013

Phill Jupitus at TCAT

Who: Phill Jupitus
When: Monday 6th May
Where: TCAT Tiverton

You're Probably Wondering Why I've Asked You Here...



Phil Jupitus is well known for his appearances on television shows such as QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, so it really was to my surprise that he was playing his very own shown in Tiverton!
I honestly didn't know what to expect attending this event. I have been to my fair share of gigs but never for a stand up comedian.
Taking our seats  the audience was greeted by a solitary artist's easel supporting a card simply stating, 'welcome' next to a microphone stand. Simple and Intriguing.

After a short wait his first 'character' graced the stage, rather stiffly and slowly, plodding up to the mike.
The late Vernon Herschel Harley (played rather convincingly by Jupitus) is or should I say was, an acting legend who died at the age of 113 through a family feud. This was really clever, basically Vernon is a dead guy who was brought to us so we can ask him questions about his life and acting (having worked with all the greats!).
Jupitus kept the accent and the character perfectly throughout this segment of the show. He constantly asked the audience to provide questions for him to answer and every time he seamlessly answered with witty comebacks, even amusing himself sometimes!

After a short intermission we were introduced to the late Kurt Schiffer, a captain of a U42B that was part of the German Navy's wolfpacks. He unfortunately died in 1944 after choking on an olive. He strolled onto the stage, ignoring the audience trying to light a cigarette  where he was promptly shouted at by a mysterious voice in the wings, to put it out. With some reluctance he did stating 'I was under the impression, you guys won the was? Glad to see your enjoying all that freedom!'
The tale of 'Schiffer' is particularly hilarious with him explaining all about his marriage and experiences through the war. Again we learnt of him through the audiences questions with Schiffer (Jupitus) making up his answers on the spot. His accent did slip in and out abit during this segment, especially when he was amused or angry but still he played the role superbly and was very quick on his feet with answers and reactions to the crowd. Of course with his working background and death dates, the audience questions quickly veered towards that war and Hitler but Schiffer was quick to declare that he thought Hitler was a 'dick' after meeting him at a car boot sale and buying all his thimbles. It was a rather elaborate tale but utterly hilarious.

After the second and last interval the stage was graced finally by Phill Jupitus as 'himself'. Kind off. It was the late great Phil Jupitus who died on June 24th 2052 on the eve of his 90th birthday. He immediately explains that he is being illegally broadcast and beamed onto the stage by a nerd in Bethnal Green, and that he may suddenly disappear because it is completely banned to do this and the government constantly scan everyones computer in the future playing the songs of 'Alanis morissette' which immediately stops the broadcast.
After this explanation he encourages the audience to ask him questions about himself from this point until his death and what happens in the future.
With no Accents or persona's to keep up, this segment was seamless and incredibly witty, and by now the whole audience had come out of the shock of being asked to do some of the work and were throwing questions at him from all directions! A little audience mocking did go on but thats the fun of it really!
The whole show is very clever in itself and it really takes talent to not have any specific jokes rehearsed and just fuel the show purley of the audience.

I won't spoil the whole show for you but I would 100% recommend seeing this man live. It was superb, hilarious and a whole lot of fun!

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