Pierre Novellie would probably be quite happy with a 3 star review. As he intimates, 3 stars means ‘fine’. After all, it’s a 6 out of 10. But perhaps he deserves more. Let’s give him 3.5 stars.
Novellie admits, in his new one-hour show playing at Soho Theatre, that he see most things as 3 stars. Indeed, the title of the show suggests he raves enthusiastically about little. But, as his routine reveals, it’s a stance that many of us share. He relates a trip to see The Play That Goes Wrong where the person sat next to him is compelled to explain out loud what is happening on stage as if she audio describing for the blind. Worse, she has brought snacks: Pringles, Revels and wine gums. And worst, she consumes them in the wrong order. It’s not just Novellie’s nightmare, it’s anyone’s nightmare.
The reason that his observational comedy is so funny is because many of us live in the same world that he quietly rants and rages against. His insights are similar to those of the Grumpy Old Men seen on TV in the early 2000s. We would all love to have a personal servant dressed up like Jeeves who’d evict noisy people from the posh cinemas we go to like the Curzon or the Picturehouse. In his vermillion velvet smoking jacket, Novellie plays up to the image that’s he’s above the general public, He’s refined, don’t you know. You won’t catch Pierre watching ITV.
He’s also a natural wordsmith and some of his vocabulary elicits its own gasps and chortles. He manages to slip in ‘rambunctiousness’ and even ‘sepulchral’. His sentences are so eloquently fashioned that he would surely be a talented poet. And a Romantic Poet too, in that jacket.
A few times the jokes are signalled a little too early and the end of the routine feels a little flat. But Novellie is an affable performer who delights in the mediocrities of everyday life. A solid 7 out of 10.
Runs until 8 February 2023
