Tom Rosenthal: Child of Privilege
Tom
Rosenthal couldn’t have known he would be performing his Edinburgh show Child of Privilege as London got looted by the
children of the not-so-privileged. Not that it would have changed his
material. Because the point of this hugely confident debut isn’t to have a serious discussion about the haves and have-nots,
simply to appear to do so in a bid for awards glory.
Rosenthal tables his masterplan from the start, showing off his 2009
Student Comedy Award and explaining that the room has been divided in
two, Big Brother 3 style, half of us receiving butler
service and cushions embroidered with his monogram, the
other half not.
He goes on to debunk his own privilege – being the son of a famous
sports presenter – by mercilessly mocking his dad’s punditry and recent
legal spat with Heston Blumenthal, aka ‘The Battle of The Enthals’. Also
covered: Rosenthal Jnr’s posh education, his
common ground with Peaches Geldof and, in a short introduction to logic
theory, his philosophy degree. Lest we forget why we’re here, he
footnotes it all back to his aim – AWARDS!! – showing his working even
on the obligatory parody of Stewart Lee (a comic known for showing his working).
It’s a risky strategy and logically speaking, a mobius strip. Rosenthal doesn’t need plaudits – he already has
the Royal Court and Channel 4 on his CV. But who is he kidding? Of
course he’d like to win – and still might, for a show that’s both charmingly accessible and intelligent beyond his 23 years. But why be clever-clever when plain young clever will do?
