TIM KEY: SINGLE WHITE SLUT | STAGE REVIEW
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Fri 10 May
Tim Key is notoriously difficult to define. Is he a comedian? Is he a poet? Is he just a funny bloke with an unwavering self-belief, enabling him to perform his gutsy and patient show to packed crowds? After seeing him up-close my conclusion is that he’s all of these things, and more.
This current show is part stand-up and part one-man theatre performance, as Key performs on stage next to a double bed and against the backdrop of mostly melancholic piano music.
He invites audience members (two scared looking women) onto the stage and onto the bed, making chit-chat and using his child-like persona to make them feel even more uncomfortable. This innocence he possesses – the constant smile, the excited shuffle, the giggling blush – makes it all the more striking when he bolts upright and flies a swearword through the air at the top of his voice.
An expert in dramatics Key would walk up towards the back of the theatre, marching loudly with intent (striking fear and awkwardness into anyone occupying an aisle seat) before engaging the audience with another whimsical, wonderful, passionate love rant. Owning a room has never been made to look so easy.
The inevitable result of having such wondrous and compelling anecdotes is that any punchline will seem less potent because it can’t live up to what has come before, but Key gets away with this because one understands that this is intentional. He’s toying with us; he gets as much pleasure out of a reaction of anti-climax as he does from a burst of uproarious laughter.
The level of performance is such that when he ends the show (“thank you very much for coming”) it’s actually surreal to see him as someone normal, as just a performer. Typically, this doesn’t last long as he marches to the back of the theatre again and captivates his audience once more with a romantic, weird and fantastic fantasy about the actress Anne Hathaway, before returning to the stage and disappearing (literally) into his bed.
Despite the energy and skill put into this 90 minute show, Key was due back on stage 30 minutes later for another showing. Upon leaving the theatre, I couldn’t help but look at the people entering the room for the second performance with great envy. They had no idea yet.
words ROB HARRIES
