Seven Dials Playhouse – until 20 December 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
If you’re looking for festive fun, get down to the Seven Dials Playhouse for The Christmas Thing. Mr. Thing (Tom Clarkson and Owen Visser) give their comic chaos a Christmas twist as they “broadcast” a live show. Those who remember the shambolic hilarity of nineties’ and noughties’ children’s TV links, game shows, and early telethons will have a blast.
Tom and Owen have a Christmas show to air, but can’t afford big guest names, so need the help of the audience. A quick QR scan on entry leads the audience to reveal their party tricks and their Christmas veg pick. Names are picked out and guests invited to step into Christmas. There is always the option to not participate, but by the time guests are involved, the atmosphere in the theatre is so warm and welcoming that only a grinch would say bah humbug when invited down. On press night the party tricks included gargling the national anthem, naming tricky Welsh towns, and doing the splits. Tom and Owen are such excellent hosts that everyone had a ball onstage. Cameras zoom in on random audience members for visual jokes, and one was even roped in to wear a helmet with a camera attached for the whole show.
Roving reporter Puppet Steve introduced the jeopardy, with news that Santa had disappeared and the Krampus was on the way to steal the Christmas cheer that the show was creating. So, among the Christmas cracker jokes, daft games, quizzes, gags and other nonsense, grim video warnings from surprising guest stars popped up. A Thingflix documentary about the life of Frankie Spangles (the superb Peter Serafinowicz) – a glorious parody of problematic celebrities – provides hints on defeating the Krampus which, of course, helps Christmas get back on track.
It takes great talent to guide unpredictable audiences and co-ordinate such randomness with the plotline into a coherent show, and Clarkson and Visser are genial masters of the game. The Christmas Thing is a wonderful show guaranteed to fill you with Christmas cheer – and the special offer of unlimited mulled wine and mince pies for 45 minutes pre-show, during the interval, and for 30 minutes post-show for £5 will make you very merry indeed.