Tuesday 26th – Wednesday 27th January; 8pm

The Wheatsheaf

“There was no question of an awkward turtle moment, no fear of a flop, stumbled or misdelivered punch line. We were completely dominated: I found myself helplessly swaying around in paroxysms of laughter, literally unable to stop the giggles.” Imogen Sarre ★★★★★

“It was all round an excellent comedy performance, unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in Oxford,” Guy Davis ★★★★★

Totally Tom ★★★★★

Review by Imogen Sarre

Not to big up my reviewing credentials, but over the past year I’ve been lucky enough to see student comedy shows from Oxford (Imps and Revue), Cambridge, Durham and Bristol Universities. Their lukewarm, unsustained comedy was always mildly disappointing. The superior nature of this two-man comedy act, ‘Totally Tom’, was quite outstanding. Toms Palmer and Stourton (from Oxford and Bristol respectively) performed six sketch shows in the first half and a film in the second. Both actors were slick, professional, poised and focused throughout, interacting together with ease and energy. The Toms were in complete control of their accents, gestures, lines and faces; more importantly and impressively, they completely controlled their audience. There was no question of an awkward turtle moment, no fear of a flop, stumbled or misdelivered punch line. We were completely dominated: I found myself helplessly swaying around in paroxysms of laughter, literally unable to stop the giggles. It is telling when the actors have to wait several moments for an audience to stop laughing before they can continue.

This was a meticulously prepared script, filled with an endless array of extremely clever jokes, astutely getting the comic balance just right by frequently alternating between different types of humour. Surprising shifts of tone and subject kept the action fast-paced and the audience interested. The comedy of the plotlines was sustained brilliantly by witty word play, repetition, pronunciation and changes in register. The skill required to construct such a script was only matched by the skill with which it was performed. Combined with gestures and actions which were contrastingly restrained and flamboyant, the effects were devastating. The scenes they particularly excelled in were the more physically active ones: the teacher-student opening act and Hamlet-spoof scenes were phenomenally funny. Here they surprised the audience with random spurts of movement that demonstrated their physical, as well as verbal, control. I especially enjoyed the panache with which Tom Stourton moved as the understanding and passionate English teacher, and the contrast it made with Tom Palmer’s portrayal of a stand-offish, bored student.

The film in the second half was in no way nearly as funny as the sketches from the first. Although beautifully constructed, the Toms were better in the flesh, bouncing off one another, changing storylines and jokes with each different sketch show. It is extremely hard to make an amateur film funny, and that they did was all credit to them, although the film relied far more on the supportiveness of the friend-filled audience than the sketches had. There were several extremely funny moments, to be found especially in the interview sections, where delivery was all. (I’m thinking especially of the moment when Tom Stourton’s character discussed his relationship to his father, revealing intimate things the latter had told him: “I wish you had died, not Max” and then, after a superbly timed pause: “I hate you”. Genius). Nonetheless, it dragged a little bit, and I left without the buzz of energy the first half had so spectacularly instilled in me.

Despite writing reams of notes during the performance about specific jokes, I have consciously had to avoid referencing them. I fear that, once started, I may never stop; plus, I am in no doubt that I would not be able to do them justice. There’s only one performance left (Wednesday of 2^nd week, 8pm): if you can force your way into the packed Wheatsheaf, do it. You simply won’t regret it.

Totally Tom ★★★★★

Review by Guy Davis

This comedy duo performed a six part sketch show that can only be described as absolutely hilarious. They demonstrated great versatility of roles and accents in a relatively short space of time. The strength of the sketches was not only the superb timing of both Tom’s, but that in each scenario the sketches took remarkable, bordering on the ridiculous, changes of direction. For example, the third sketch began with discussion of the obesity of a mother’s child, nicknamed Butternut Bill by his peers, and ended with Bill incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison on terrorist charges as he wanted to emulate his father and pursue a career in the Taleban. They showcased great skill in carrying off these wild and unforeseeable tangents, with the result that each new twist was funnier and more absurd than the last. You know that it’s a hilarious sketch when the audience is laughing uncontrollably through each pause and the performers have to shout to get the next punch-line heard.

The film afterwards was less funny than the live act, yet it was still, at times, side-splittingly good. The concept of a self-revelatory film documentary of an ex-public school boy, techno loving, history of Art studying, Bristol student was a brilliant one. A highlight was the reading out of the protagonist’s rejection letter from Christchurch in the form of a poem, but the film dragged on a little at the end. Having said this, both parts of the night’s show were incredibly entertaining, and it is certainly fair to say that the pair were contagiously funny on stage. It was all round an excellent comedy performance, unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in Oxford, and I would hugely recommend going to see them if ever you are lucky enough to have the chance.