Kevin Tomlinson's Seven Ages is derived from a strong concept, but the resulting show is poor in comparison. Tomlinson presents, with the help of his assistant and of the audience, an improvised comedy show based around Shakespeare's conception of the seven ages of human life – including birth, love, and work – and uses lines from songs previously written down by the audience to provide most of his punchlines.
While genial and well-composed, endearing himself to the audience, Tomlinson's improvised sketches are not well-structured and he comes so close to running over time that his final 'age of life' has to be completed in under five minutes. Despite having performed here three times previously, Tomlinson's performance was shaky and descended into mere waffle on more than one occasion. He was in fact outshone in terms of improvisational skills at some points by a schoolgirl chosen from the audience.
The punchlines are, by and large, very funny, but Tomlinson relies too heavily on the entirety of his jokes being provided by the song lyrics gimmick- let's face it, there are only so many times you can laugh at 'And then I said to my mother... Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.'
Tomlinson also needs to be more careful in his improv, as some comments he makes in a bid to get a laugh are fairly distasteful. Uncomfortable references to the slave trade, Asian culture, and the length of a particular young audience member's skirt all made an appearance.
Seven Ages is a show which would benefit from a wider variety of improvisational games, which involve the audience to a greater extent, as the moments when audience members are asked to provide information for a sketch are the most enjoyable. Tomlinson, who is actually pretty funny, needs more discipline in both his material and his timing in order to make this show work more effectively.
