Known to most Australian audiences as Sidekick Simon in the Alan Partridge film and show, Tim Key is a simultaneously commanding and blundering presence on stage. While he may shout inappropriately and drift off into reveries at any given moment, there is undoubtedly a master performer and genius writer at work beneath the often confounding façade.
In his chosen outfit of blue coveralls, shaggy beard and cowboy boots he looks more equipped to fix your car than bend your brainstem with poetry. As the audience entered the room Keys was already on stage, looking us over and strolling around casually, glancing at playing cards before he flung them off towards nothing in particular. It was a weird but involving start to the show and things got weirder.
If there was a theme to the show it was beds and their association with courtship, and there was even his own bed on the side of stage that turned out to be an integral part of the show. He told several anecdotes about trying to pick up women that went from adorable to puzzling to troubling and back again, often within the same sentence. He even had a try with audience members to not much success, but it was all part of the very engaging spectacle. Keys unique brand type of anarchic humour doesn’t abide by the rules and it’s a joy to be in the presence of one of the greats.
BY NICK HILTON
