Come on, this is your chance, Tom Rosenthal tells us right at the beginning. Your chance, he says, to say “shalom” to him, or “this is a lovely bit of squirrel,” or, if Plebs is your preferred sitcom over Friday Night Dinner (maybe there are two people in the world who are of that opinion), “Salve, Marcus”.
It’s an opportunity, in short, to get all those kneejerk reactions out of the way and to establish the fact that Rosenthal knows what he is known for; that if you’re here to see him do stand-up it might have something to do with the fact that you know him from the two successful sitcoms he starred in back in the 2010s.
Although, actually, sometimes that’s not the case. There’s someone in the front row tonight – been dragged along by a friend – who doesn’t know who he is. Which, in a way, perfectly speaks to Rosenthal’s point. That he is aware that he is at best a minor celebrity.
He’s also aware that there are some people who will prefer that “early stuff” he did. After all, he loves the Arctic Monkeys, but only the first two albums.
Which is why he has come tonight dressed up as the band’s front man Alex Turner; hair slicked back, chain around his neck, big trousers.
This is a show about perceptions, identity and why artists and performers have to keep changing – unless you’re Oasis, I suppose – even when we don’t want them to.
That said, it’s quite a light scaffold for a show, I’d say. And that turns out to have advantages and disadvantages. It certainly allows him a real freedom to skip between physical and verbal comedy, to jump the tracks when it suits, and generally amuse himself and us. But it does run the risk of not really hanging together as a coherent entity.
There are worse things, though. From minute to minute, Rosenthal’s material is funny, waspish (David Baddiel comes in for some stick; for good reason as Rosenthal explains), even daring. It makes for a good Friday night out. Or Saturday, or Sunday, or …
So what’s the takeaway? That there’s plenty to enjoy here, even if you think that, actually, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino is, in fact, the Arctic Monkey’s best album.
Tom Rosenthal: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am, Assembly Roxy, 18.15, until August 24
