Justin Moorhouse is touring through to 2024 with his latest tour Stretch and Think, a title inspired by the PE habits of current day school children.
He’s doing his bit to ensure the ‘little heard’ views of middle-aged white men have a platform, sharing his reflections of middle-aged life, family life and the quirks and frustrations of living in 2023.
Moorhouse introduces himself then comes out to greet the audience, instantly there’s hysterical laughter from the audience. He’s really quick, reacting to what’s going on in the audience, getting to know individual audience members, and having a good old giggle. He builds a great relationship with the audience and leaves them desperate for the main show after the interval. Support act Jim Burke leads into the interval, his style is very different to Moorhouse. There are less jokes and no audience interaction – he’s a storyteller, born in Glasgow, living in Leeds. He reflects on the differences between the two cities, his latest health scare and pub brawls.
After the interval, it’s here, a full hour of the stand up routine Stretch and Think. The content is wholly based on Moorhouse’s reflections of life as a Dad, Husband, dog lover, football fan and middle aged man. There’s a huge amount of content and topics covered (no spoilers here), he’s brilliant at linking the topics back to the banter he had in the first half so the audience really feel part of the show and his content feels new and fresh, especially tailored for tonight’s audience. What is brilliant about Moorhouse is that although his show is about being a middle aged man, he’s so relatable to all ages and women too. There’s a huge range of ages in the audience from 15 up, he’s ‘just’ a really funny guy, it’s impossible not to laugh. On many occasions there’s tears streaming down the faces of the audience, like in all good comedy routines he gets to the point of potentially overstepping the mark – he alludes to this which makes it even more funny. He teaches us, as he’s doing it, what the elements of a good comedy show are. He may come across as a down to earth ‘ordinary’ guy, but he knows exactly what he’s doing in designing his perfectly structured comedy routine, he’s absolutely nailed it. He’s clever, funny, likeable, unoffensive and you’ll leave wanting to take him to your local pub.
Reviewed on 27th May 2023. Touring nationwide.
The Reviews Hub Score
You'll cry with laughter
