Soho Theatre (Downstairs), London – until 20 April 2024
Reviewed by Emily Smith
4****
Spencer Jones, perhaps best known for his roles in Upstart Crow, Mr Winner or The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk, has just opened his new show ‘Spencer Jones: Making Friends’ at London’s Soho Theatre. The show started with Spencer asking the audience who had seen him before, to a cheer of around half the room. When he then asked who hadn’t, the other half cheered (myself included), and he stated “Ah, some of this might not be for you… but either way, you’ll have a story” – and a story I have indeed…
It’s hard to quite articulate what happened during the show because, frankly, I’m not entirely sure myself. There were songs, masks, carboard cut-outs, and a variety of home-made props, all used to tell the story of how Spencer and his family moved to Devon during the COVID lockdown. For me, this thread running through the show really was a thin thread, unravelling as much as Spencer seemed to be! It was certainly something to witness and left most of the audience feeling as though they’d stepped into a fever dream – but not necessarily in a bad way!
The real ingenuity in the performance came in the use of the loop medal for the songs. My personal favourite was based on the surplus of eggs that his chickens produced in Devon. This is probably because my own aunt and uncle moved to Devon and I have experienced first-hand the flogging of extra eggs and witnessed the industrial sized jars of pickled eggs! To this effect, I’d call him the Ed Sheeran of comedy. He is incredibly talented in producing these songs on-stage, while keeping the audience on the journey with him, and I almost wish more of the act had focussed on these rather than the GCSE art projects he so proudly presented to the audience throughout. In his own words… “you can’t pay the mortgage with that” and I have to agree.
There were some issues with the microphones throughout, which detracted at times and appeared to be somewhat irritating to Spencer too, but what can you expect when you’re constantly poking your head through cardboard cutouts and donning obscure masks!?
Spencer’s energy, albeit frantic, was infectious. It was a case of surrendering to the experience and riding the wave. Personally, I came out a bit scrambled – much like the surplus of eggs he had sung about – but overall had an enjoyable evening!