Glasgow Comedy Festival
John Shuttleworth - A Wee Ken To Remember, Citizens Theatre
Lorraine Wilson
Four stars
Before we get into this latest spectacular by Sheffield's versatile singer/organist, he just has to finish a Locket.
A running commentary of just how far through the throat sweet he is proves a perfect introduction to Shuttleworth's world, where minutiae is the main event. Tonight he's contractually obliged to talk about his agent and next-door-neighbour Ken Worthington who has had a bit of a mishap with the tour posters.
Interspersed, however, are some of John's most memorable weekends, which involve Polyfilla, fleeces, the Keswick Pencil Museum, and perhaps most memorably, checking the level of the reservoir. The world he creates of wife Mary, the kids Darren and Karen - and Ken of course - is one explored in greater depth through the music.
The new song Relatives in Rotherham is a searing indictment of having to share biscuits with family members he doesn't even like. The chaos created by Mary changing her plans at the last minute is recounted in Early Tea. Old favourites such as Two Margarines and Mingling With Mourners are met with rock n roll whoops from the audience.
Creator Graham Fellows has an obvious love of words and a connection with the absurdity that comes from the mundane. Rhyming Billy Joel with village hall is something that can only happen in Shuttleworth world. Fellows has always said that he's simply an actor who lost his way, and now it seems that after 30 years the fawn slacks might be pressed and put away.
Shame. For some heartfelt Northern ennui I'd take Shuttleworth over Morrissey any day.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article