For those who have seen Tommy Little perform to a handful of fairly ambivalent punters on a tiny pub stage, seeing him pack out a room like this can be a bit jarring. What a difference a slot on breakfast radio can make.
Little even acknowledges early on how his recent change of fortune has impacted the show – original plans to make fun of the middle class have been somewhat scrapped, now that he’s entered a new income bracket. There’s also a major shift in audience make-up, skewing younger and female than you’d normally get at a pub comedy night. It’s easy to see why he’s landed the new gig. His energy, charisma and comfort with the crowd are apparent within minutes, and the punchlines come thick and fast.
My one critique is that Little prefers the scattershot approach, lampoon one thing, jump straight onto the next, with rarely a connecting thread from one part to the next. But there’s no denying his talent for turning the banal into entertainment – a skill that will come in handy in the future.
BY MITCH ALEXANDER
