After a darker time last year in which Aidan Goatley suffered from a patch of bad mental health, he is back to let everybody know he is now on top form and how it was watching his entire DVD collection that helped him get back on track.
A genuinely lovely guy, after realising there were to be only 8 of us in the audience for that evening’s show, he proceeded to learn everybody’s names and perform from in front of the stage rather than look down on us from the top of it which made for a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. The confidence with which he performed and interacted with the crowd was incredibly endearing, but it did worry me that if what was to follow was utterly dire, I’d be forced to give a clearly very nice man a bad review. But thankfully this was not the case. What proceeded was a succession of witty anecdotal stories about his time recovering on the sofa, with some comical film analysis thrown in for good measure, featuring Bond, a Bollywood superman and the unearthing of one of the worst films ever made.
Ultimately, though, Goatley has chosen to make light of a situation that is not openly discussed nearly as much as it should be and he is extremely brave for doing so. After all, it is pretty difficult to even talk about personal mental health issues as a ‘repressed British man’ (Goatley’s own words) never mind make them entertaining. This is not just a comedic show about recovery, it is a feat able to draw attention to an issue that should no longer be a taboo and he should be extremely proud of himself for doing it with such flair.
