Gary Delaney gets straight to the point of this one-man performance, declaring ‘I’ve just written some new jokes - this isn’t a ‘my dad’s dead’ kind of show.’ His appearance is that of an overgrown Dennis the Menace - a large, balding 40 year old sporting shorts and a cheeky smile - but his constant one-liners are more akin to a crude version of Tim Vine.
Delaney plays the role of cheeky chappie who is not afraid to push the boundaries. ‘Some of the jokes are quite childish and immature’ he warns, before launching into gags along the lines of ‘I spent the afternoon in the pub mentally undressing women. I find it works better if you pretend to be mental.’ Crude and slightly grotesque for some, but if you like that type of wordplay then it’s simply a really fun show to go and watch.
A sell-out crowd at the Pleasance Upstairs certainly engaged well with Delaney’s overgrown schoolchild persona. He presented his material superbly, theming his jokes along the lines of a pub quiz. There is a Science round (‘My friend is called Stephen with a ‘ph’. It’s because he is slightly acidic’), a Sports round (‘When I heard my trampoline had been moved indoors, I hit the roof!”), a Maths round, a sex one (naturally), and many more besides.
Delaney’s uses of projection to share some material he has created or found (usually one-liner cartoons or unfortunate spelling mistakes he has noticed) are the highlight of the show. However, his doctoring of certain Wikipedia pages - adapting Patsy Palmer’s page so the Eastenders actress appears on ‘RICKYpedia’, for example - left most of the crowd with fits of giggles. Delaney is silly, rude, downright unpleasant in parts, but he’s extremely good fun.
