Nutty Noah (Bristol)

Even before you enter the theatre, Noah (he of Nutty fame) is around. Be it a self-made announcement or a head poking through a curtain, the tone of the piece is set straight away.

Nutty Noah blasts onto the stage with the energy of a band of children’s entertainers and maintains the momentum throughout the 80 minute show.

His repertoire is broad. Nutty Noah’s magic ranges from the deliberately appalling (the worse it gets, the more the audience revel in it) to the deliberately wonderful – the helium table is worth the ticket price alone.

As a musician, Nutty Noah displays enormous talent. His comic songs delight, especially his tale of having to sit on the Naughty Step at 42, his ability to adapt the kazoo and some horns are fun (although the Herb Alpert encore may have stretched the friendship a little as far as the running time was concerned) but it was his skills on the piano that highlighted how accomplished a performer he is. It was also one of the disappointments that we didn’t see more of it seeing as the piano featured throughout.

As a children’s entertainer, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone better. As a theatrical experience, Nutty Noah needs a nip and tuck on the running time and some of the set pieces but that aside, he delighted, he entertained and he proved that in the right company, a poo joke can go a long way.

- by Shane Morgan