Review: Terry Alderton, Basement, City Screen, York (From York Press)

Review: Terry Alderton, Basement, City Screen, York

9:39am Tuesday 8th February 2011 in Comedy

Terry Alderton’s tireless and erratic energy has earned him a reputation as one of the most watchable, innovative comedians today.

His masterful performance at the Basement showed why. That said, not everyone gets it. The first half was muted: Victor Retihs, one of Alderton’s characters, left the audience bewildered; some people were not even aware Victor was actually Alderton. Thankfully, the floodgates opened in the second half. Alderton’s vocal ability at accents, impressions, sound effects and beatboxing is matched by his pace and spontaneity. He seamlessly moved from impersonating Stewart Lee, Lee Evans and Harry Hill to perfection to showcasing Australian, New Zealand, Geordie and Scottish accents (complete with full knowledge of regional distinctions) to exhibiting eerily good car horn, helicopter and jet and his desperate Fathers4Justice campaigner.

Expertly timed pre-recorded samples and his highly original trick of voicing his inner dialogue, a demonic duo intent on causing mischief, with his back to the audience complemented the frenzied momentum. A show-stealing routine came when Alderton interrupted himself to have a “phone conversation” with someone unseen and unheard. A truly memorable piece of physical and vocal comedy also saw him rewind a section of the show. His audience interaction was masterly too: his finale involved pulling a man from the front row and leading him in a dance that looked so well-choreographed that you momentarily questioned whether the man was a plant.

Watchable? Terry Alderton is unmissable.

Review by Jonathan Wilkes