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Review: Tom Houghton - It's Not Ideal (UK tour)

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Review by Rosie Holmes

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

With 325,000 followers on TikTok, Tom Houghton has been labelled as something of a viral sensation. He is also star of Netflix’s reality series The Circle, and is currently touring the UK on his biggest tour to date. I should probably mention Houghton’s official title, ‘The Honourable Tom Houghton’, his dad being a Lord and his having previously lived in the Tower of London for 7 years. I myself know a thing or two about The Tower of London, having worked there for, coincidentally, around 7 years, so I was very keen to see if Houghton’s stand-up show was just as esteemed as his title.

 

Houghton’s current show, It’s Not Ideal, is centred around his healing year, during which he gave up drinking, and his three reasons for doing so, explanations of which invariably go off on many tangents and tales from throughout the year. We are taken through stag dos, Coronations, trips abroad, and exposing his four-year-old nephew to his first experience with trauma.


 

Houghton enters the stage to the sound of Jason Derulo, but – at odds with his song choice – addresses the fact he is very, very posh straight away. Almost immediately, he asks an audience member one of his catchphrase lines; “Do you ski?” His opening, prior to the warm-up act and before he got into the show proper, allowed Houghton to show his talent for audience interaction with some very silly name jokes, which tickled me more than they probably should have. He asked the audience whether we wanted Korma-level spice or Vindaloo spice, with the audience of course voting for Vindaloo, although I would say compared to other comedians I’ve seen, Houghton’s jokes were on the milder side. This isn’t without exceptions though, such as a gasp-inducing joke about Queen Camilla and car crashes, which was shocking but, admittedly, very funny.

 

I suppose the question to answer really is, was the show funny? It was a stand-up performance after all. The answer, rather straightforwardly, is an absolute yes. While a few of Houghton’s anecdotes and tales did seem to wander a little aimlessly, there is no doubt the man has a talent for crafting a show. This is apparent not just in his delivery, which is equal parts charismatic and self-deprecating, but the way in which he has structured the jokes –  with flawless segues and a cyclical rhythm, meaning they all link back to each other which raised many, many laughs from the audience.



Tom Houghton’s It’s Not Ideal makes for a very funny night out, and I noticed throughout the audience there were people of all ages finding the show funny, which really proved the width his appeal and talent as a comedian. The venue, The Arts Depot, was smaller in size but I have no doubt we will be seeing Houghton fill bigger venues in no time at all.

 

It’s Not Ideal is currently touring the UK, tickets and more information can be found here - Tour Dates – Tom Houghton Comedy (honourabletom.com)

 

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