Stage: Get to the punchline

Jack Tucker: Comedy Standup Hour
with Zach Zucker, Dylan Woodley
direction & sound Jonny Woolley
Soho Theatre, London • 15-27.Jul.24 ★★★★★

Fans of Stamptown host Jack Tucker will love the chance to see a full hour (or most likely more) of him on his own in this almost panic-strikingly hilarious show. As played by Zach Zucker, Jack is an exploding bundle of nervous energy who struggles against all manner of distractions as he tells random jokes before laboriously arriving at a surreal or even downright stupid punchline. But we may never get to the end of a joke, and he certainly won't finish within his allotted hour. There isn't a moment of this show that doesn't feel like it's spiralling far out of control. It's a work of genius.

While referencing his New York roots, Jack makes riotously timely comments about America's politics, Britain's recent election and England's performance in the Euro 2024 final, plus some wicked Brexit references. But mainly he tries to tell extended standup-style jokes about everyday things like airplanes, smartphones and bees. And he's continually interrupted by his own stream-of-consciousness as well as the ongoing antics of roller-skating opening act Dylan Woodley. On press night, a trumpeter mercilessly stole the show every time he appeared. Jack's interaction with the audience is a barrage of lightning-quick throwaway gags that continually catch us by surprise. And every malapropism is so impeccably targeted that we quickly realise that chaos is clearly the entire point of the show.

Hugely likeable even when playing an idiot like Jack, Zucker is pathologically talented comic who expertly combines his razor-sharp timing with clowning physicality. He interacts with the crashing sounds and shifting lights with gleeful precision. And yet everything feels improvised, as if an under-rehearsed show is being pulled apart at the seams. Obviously, this can't happen by accident, and even when it feels like it has perhaps genuinely gone off the rails, he still manages to be hilarious. While continually checking his notes, the pace of his gags is so fast that it's not possible to keep up, so the laughs pile up like a car crash on a motorway at rush hour. "It's a hurricane up here," Jack shouts. "Or maybe a him-icane!"

As with Stamptown, the stage is a scene of total carnage by the end of the show, while the increasingly disheveled Jack is covered in confetti and sweat (and other things). Most impressive is how Zucker maintains Jack's relentless awkwardness, simulating failure and pandemonium while delivering one expertly aimed zinger after another. And there's a vulnerability even to his obvious lies that makes us want to give him a hug. Not a single thing has gone the way he planned it, and yet the mayhem comes together perfectly. Yet another triumph.

For info, SOHO THEATRE > • STAMPTOWN >

photos by Dylan Woodley & David Monteith-Hodge • 16.Jul.24

Stage: Blissfully out of control

Stamptown
host Zach Zucker
with Natalie Palamides, Martin Urbano, Kemah Bob, Furiozo, Marshall Arkley, Cleopantha, Rowen K, Steffen Hanes, Erin Farrington, Dylan Woodley
sound Jonny Woolley • lighting Lily Woodford-Lewis
Soho Theatre, London • 17-27.Jan.24 ★★★★★

Marshall Arkley

Even before this show starts, boisterous chaos has already filled the theatre. Then master of ceremonies Jack Tucker (aka Zach Zucker) takes the mic and everything spirals even more blissfully out of control. This is a remarkable collision of standup, burlesque and clownery, unfolding with an expert sense of improvisational energy that often seems to catch the performers themselves off guard. It's so relentlessly entertaining and unpredictable, that audience members will want to come back and see what might happen next time.

At the centre of a wildly full-on variety show, the charming Zucker skilfully holds things together, teetering on the edge of anarchy. His corny jokes elicit applause and groans as he peppers us with a continuous series of snappy visual and verbal gags. When he can, he introduces the next act. The show includes three burlesque numbers, with Cleopantha sparking sassy attitude in a eye-popping traditional routine, Rowen K displaying impressive acrobatic handstands and muscle man Marshall Arkley adding whip-cracking, fire-breathing antics along with, well, it needs to be seen to be believed.

Furiozo

Stage manager Erin offers trigger warnings for the edgier elements in the show, but arrives far too late. The beefy Furiozo inventively mimes an entire crime saga with game assistance from an audience member. Kemah Bob delivers a surreally hilarious standup set about the innate absurdity of seasalt. A vampire (Hanes) stalks the show waiting for his chance to add something spooky. And comic Martin Urbano plays a critic who reads from his appalling notes throughout the show. 

There's a lot more going on, and nothing that happens seems to go quite as planned. But because it's so genuinely amusing, the audience can't help but get swept into the swirling energy. Each of these performers, including the people running the sound and lighting, is a the very best at what they do. Their timing, quick thinking and ability to riff off each other is flat-out genius, blending smart punchlines with sublimely silly buffoonery. And because the show plays out with such a gleefully freeform structure, it will always be fresh and new, unexpected and jaw-dropping. And definitely not for the faint of heart.

For information, STAMPTOWN >

photos are from previous productions • 18.Jan.24

Stage: Expertly controlled chaos

 

BriTANicK
by Brian McElhaney, Nick Kocher
dir Alex Edelman
prd Zach Zucker, Allegra Rosenberg
Soho Theatre, London • 27.Feb-4.Mar.23

In one blissfully silly hour, gifted writers and performers Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher take the audience on a hilarious trip into their own obsessions. Their humour is surreal and ridiculous, with meta gags and punchlines that circle around to get funnier each time they reappear. As teens in Atlanta, the duo came up with the name BriTANicK (rhymes with Titanic), which they acknowledge is a mess. Over the last two decades, they have won awards for their show and an Emmy nomination as writers on Saturday Night Live.

A series of contained sketches that feature overlapping themes and repeating jokes, this show builds momentum and energy until it reaches a wonderfully out-of-control crescendo. The duo opens with a quietly witty scene that establishes their personalities, with the thoughtful Brian trying to read a book while the mischievous Nick, playing an unseen ghost, pesters him. Subsequent sketches take them to Old England, where their duel is interrupted by an over-friendly horse, and the Wild West, where they play every role in a crowded saloon.

Along the way, there are many more outrageously inventive moments set, for example, in a memory loss clinic, plus encounters with their personal dreams and nightmares. And they gleefully push boundaries of political correctness. The most insistent running joke is that Nick has taken a vow of celibacy prior to his wedding, which has been delayed by the pandemic. This leaves him desperate for any form of intimacy, either from Brian or frankly anyone in the audience. His amorous yearnings escalate to a frankly brilliant explosion of trousers-around-the-ankles slapstick.

While all of this spirals with a sense of wildly chaotic improvisation, it's impressive how Brian and Nick keep their finely tuned choreography so fresh and even dangerous. After decades working together, the camaraderie between them is hugely engaging, especially when things get physical. Their childlike sense of imagination is infectious, as they play with invisible props and settings in ways that are both goofy and fiendishly clever. And because their connection is so strong, the deeper ideas add a layer of resonance that catches us by surprise, even as we never stop laughing.

For information, SOHO THEATRE >

photos by Sela Shiloni and Stamptown • 27.Feb.23

Stage: Ready for his closeup

Zach Zucker:
Spectacular Industry Showcase
with live music by Lucas Tamaren
Soho Theatre, London • 17-21.Jan.23

After glowing reviews on the Edinburgh Fringe, Zach Zucker brings his frenetic one-man show to London for a brief, riotous run. The jokes are fast and ridiculous, and not quite as rude as he thinks they are, especially for a lubricated late-night Soho crowd. But his boyish charm is so engaging that it's difficult not to fall in love with Zach as he does pretty much everything he can to win us over.

As his self-created myth goes, Zach has been working in show business in Los Angeles for 11 years, and he's now ready for stardom at age 16. Can he be the first bisexual Jew to make it in Hollywood? He certainly thinks so, diving into a freeform series of audition pieces that demonstrate his skills at acting, singing, dancing and improvisation. He also bares his soul, promises to sleep with everyone, and shows himself willing to do or say the unthinkable to get a laugh.

Essentially a hyperactive clown, Zucker has a fabulous physicality, diving into each humorous bit with gusto and interacting with the audience using a mix of biting wit and knowing warmth. Much of his material is blissfully absurd, especially as he segues from one random theme to the next, diving into a variety of alter-egos who perform with songs, poetry and rap in their own silly voices. This is a performer who isn't embarrassed to embrace a gleefully stupid joke, and when one doesn't work he moves so swiftly on to the next one that it's dazzling.

Of course, there's a very strong whiff of desperation in the character Zucker is playing on stage, and it's this vulnerability that makes the show much more than just an hour of frantic mayhem. His interaction with musician Lucas Tamaren brings several clever surprises along the way, adding even more layers to Zucker's self-aware performance. So even if he perhaps wants stardom a bit too much, it's impossible not to hope that he gets a shot at it.

photos by Dylan Woodley • 17.Jan.23