From his first off-stage moment, doing some good old audience warming up from the wings with his distinctive nasal voice prompting the up for it audience to whoop, ohhhh and clap I relaxed, Lycett has that rare and difficult talent; threatening camp. It’s delightful, he’ll be fun as long we are fun, but push him and he slaps. It’s a well aimed slap too, nothing too much, just a hint of menace and the threat that his milquetoast ire might hide a sea of wrath and then a quick pull back, a smile and back to the jokes.
His lovely story of dispatching some homophobic hooligan lads was a delight and offered us a world view from Lycett, his ability to overcome aggression and threat using his own psychotic Mary Poppins approach of ‘now lets all behave… or else.’ He then goes on to explain that he’s bisexual, although i wonder if waking up after crashing out at a party with a naked girl next to you really knocks you out of the gay paddock.
He’s great, nice and simple and loveable too, a cuddly mix of Kenneth Williams and Julian Clary but with a distinct voice all his own. He opened his show with some good material then stopped and walked into the audience, to greet and interrogate a dozen straight lads wearing masks of Lycett’s face on a stag night (with the stag dressed up as Beyonce), gently explaining that there was no Beyonce material in the show, it was just a pun. He then milked then for laughs in a gentle but firm way. Great fun and this relaxed surety of touch made us all kick back, relax and enjoy him.
Learn more of Joe and his thoughts on life here on his website:
His material feels like three 20 minutes slots cobbled together and there’s no coherent connection to it, but this doesn’t matter as the quality of his rambling oddness and beguiling charm overcomes this. He shares his taunting treatment of major corporations and his cyber assaults on pomposity which are genius funny and also gives us an insight into his deeper psychological naughty self, his ‘Walrus’ side. This running joke is deftly woven throughout the night and underscores his tendency to blurt and trust on it being funny, and he is funny.
Lycett was fun to watch for an hour, gliding round stage making every one laugh, caressing the audience, occasionally shocking us just for fun (and one suspects to keep us in order) then bringing it all back into some warm deeply personal self deconstruction and silliness.
The show is greater than its parts and his warm engaging style of comedy keept our attention. He’s been around and is picking up awards the way some pick up STD’s, so catch him before the slick Dr’s get hold of him. I liked him and left with a smile on my face.
Joe Lycett played the Brighton Dome Studio on Saturday 11th October 11 as part of the Brighton Comedy Festival
For more info on the Brighton Comedy Festival or to book tickets see the festival website here:
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