Paul Foot in An Evening with Mr Paul Foot ★★★★

Foot loose and lively in a show that cherry picks material from previous shows.

Paul Foot in An Evening with Mr Paul Foot.

Melbourne Town Hall, season has ended

HOW does Paul Foot function in normal society on a daily basis? The impish eccentric must bewitch his share of retail staff and baristas simply by being himself. The UK oddity attacks life in a most contrary manner dressed in his unusual way. Tonight he’s wearing a Dr Who meets Mad Max jacket that may or may not be full of Pierce Brosnan’s cockerel hen eggs.

The flummoxing 42-year-old came out to the Comedy Festival this year with no new material which is not saying this show is unoriginal. Nobody else could pull off this show and nobody would dare tackle it. Foot is rightly compared to The Goon Show, Monty Python and Spike Milligan. If you don’t get it, that’s your problem.

He thrusts and struts through the crowd with a pixie-like glee during his pre-show banter, the only performer I’ve ever seen who can be as funny offstage as he is on. Foot paces about like a toddler who is busting to go to the toilet and simultaneously can’t leave because he doesn’t want to miss a thing. Foot jokingly chastises the technical staff and ratchets up his rant into a full-blown tirade about he and the staff “have not hit it off”. Three octogenarians (!) behind me giggle quietly and let their eyes water up appreciatively, one of the loveliest, most unexpected moments of 2016’s festival.

Foot’s promiscuous alter ego Penny (“Penn-ayyyy!”) has her way with a few crowd members but not “Steve, you were very unlucky tonight, put it out of your mind”. As always, this is Foot’s flight of fancy, you need to give in to the madness so your brain doesn’t dribble straight out of your ears. He is a true disturbance in a world of iPhone notifications, death and taxes.

Praise and disdain must go to the Worst Heckle of the Festival (rightly ignored): “Ya can’t beat a Cock Sanctuary.” WTF? Kudos to Foot for letting it slide by and absolute disgust directed at/to the nong who thought it would be a good idea to continually interrupt the show with unfunny eruptions that would get tumbleweeds at a Sportsman’s Night. Paul Foot will return next year with a new show and let’s hope he has a full tilt at the Barry Award. He’s been nominated before and his sideways attack feels like it could overground in 2017, the 80-year-olds will be back too, age shall not weary them.