by Zahid Fayyaz

This is the sophomore effort from a former teacher turned stand-up comedian, after his critically acclaimed debut from last year The Last Living Libertine. This time around, the ‘modern day libertine’ talks about how he became a teacher, his mouse infestation, his weeknight escapades spent drinking, and how you can make money from participating in medical testing. The latter constitutes the meat of the show, as he explains how a malaria experiment almost went disastrously wrong.

As a stand-up show, it is very funny, with the story moving along with some wonderful asides to the audience and some cracking one-liners. He has a great style of speech, an affected, Oscar Wilde style, which he effectively uses to connect with the audience. He is slightly distracted on the evening of the show as his old music teacher from a decade ago was in the audience, but he recovers quickly from that surprise to power through the set.

It’s an engaging and hilarious show, that makes for a good night out, whether that’s at the remaining dates at the Soho Theatre, or next year when it is due to tour the UK.

John Tothill: Thank God This Lasts Forever runs through 1 November.

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