Review/Rave: Ross Noble – Jibber Jabber Jamboree – Part 1
(UK Tour 2023-2024) G-Live Guildford, UK ★★★★★
The comedian Ross Noble has often been described as a man who takes 45 mins to say Hello. The merest whiff of interaction with the audience will send him off down a rabbit hole of tangents so complex you’ll fear there’s no way back.
If this SubStack ‘Off on a Tangent’ had a patron saint it would be him. I very much enjoy his surrealist flights of fancy, but it’s not for everyone. I saw him a few years ago in a small venue (Cranleigh Arts Centre, capacity 200) and he literally spent the first half an hour chatting to us from behind the stage curtain. You never know quite what to expect when he’s on stage… or even slightly off the stage.
At the half time break my friend asked me when he was going to ‘just get on with it’ and start his show!?
This is it! This tangential tightrope walking IS HIS SHOW, and I for one, love it.
The first half
Back to 2023 and an audience capacity of 1,031… a large part of his show is the audience interaction, so imagine our collective surprise and delight when he spotted a punter up in the Circle wearing a Hi-Vis jacket?! Improv gold. That was 10 mins of material, right there!
After flitting among more audience members and delving into different themes, Ross told us the one question he is sick and tired of being asked at the moment is…
‘Do you have ADHD?’
The truth is, he’s never been tested.
‘Why the hell not?’ Anyone and everyone would surely scream!
Ross: “Of course, I’ve thought about getting tested for ADHD, but then I start wondering whether there is enough salt in a human tear to kill a slug… and I forget to make the appointment.”
Simply beautiful… and by my calculations the only bit of pre-written ‘script’ in the entire first half.
You do really get your money’s worth too, as he’s so pre-occupied inventing the next ludicrous scenario to notice the time, so everyone’s back teeth are floating by the time the ‘piss break’ is called.
My own tangent
Which reminds me of when I saw him (years ago) at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, on Shaftsbury Avenue, which it turns out, is his favourite London venue. The reason being is that when you say ‘The Apollo’, most people immediately think of the Hammersmith Apollo, which is a great comedy venue and about a 45 minute drive away… if you’re lucky with the traffic.
He drew our attention to a couple of groups of empty seats near the front, at this ‘sell-out gig’, and let everyone in the theatre into a private joke…
Ross: “Just before the ‘piss break’ these people will sheepishly start making their way in, horribly embarrassed and annoyed with themselves for being 50 minutes late, and will try and get to their seats as quietly as possible. They have probably made the mistake of going to the Hammersmith Apollo.”
Sure enough, at just under an hour, the first group of four people made a late entrance and started edging toward their empty seats.
Ross: “Good evening! A bit late aren’t you?”
Hapless punter: “Er, yes, so sorry, we’ve just driven over from the Hammersmith…”
At which point everyone in the theatre erupted with cheering and clapping! They pretty much received a standing ovation from us, just for being late.
Can you imagine being the latecomers? They literally had no idea how they’d caused the audience’s euphoric outburst. Admittedly, ‘Hammersmith’ is quite a funny word, but it doesn’t usually get people rolling in the aisles. Unless you’re at a Ross Noble gig.
The second half
At 47 years old, he has needed to adjust to the increasing wokeness of his audience, so how does he do that? Why, of course, he builds us an imaginary all-inclusive buffet to indulge in whenever the narrative gets anywhere close to triggering.
Us Brits love a free buffet, real or imaginary, and by the time we’ve wondered if we can team the jerk chicken with a greek salad, we’ve forgotten all about whether we approve of a particular joke or accent or not… and normal service is resumed. Genius.
The scattered chatter continued into the second half, as he diligently checked in with all the punters he’d spoken to in the first half.
Painting increasingly ludicrous scenes involving, but by no means limited to:
Alicia Keys
Johnny Dankworth & Cleo Laine
Barack Obama at a spa hotel
ABBA in a box doing squats
The world’s finest Bill Bailey impression.
Keeping the laughter level pumping right to the end, we eventually all get washed up on the shore that was the finale… and oh my days!
From this point forward whenever I hear Ray Parker Jr belting out the Ghostbusters theme tune I will always get another bonus laugh! Thank you Ross for that particularly exquisite piece of mime!
Rinse and repeat?
With so much of the ‘act’ being inspired by the audience interaction, I have often wondered how the show may differ from one night to the next, and this time I’m in luck.
The UK ‘Jibber Jabber Jamboree’ tour rolls on until 17 March 2024, which gives me a great opportunity to see it again, which I fully intend to.
I highly recommend you treat yourself to a ticket too, and we can meet back here for Part 2 next year.
You’re welcome.
K8x