★★★★
There is a feeling of alienation as you walk into this show. Ince is crouched over a Melon, slowly carving it, in what feels like a horrible parody of Beckett. He then proceeds to smash the Melon to bits. This is as off-the-wall as it gets and serves as a reminder of the former Robin Ince, when he started comedy.
I remember Robin Ince when he supported Ricky Gervais, a good 20 years ago, it felt very much that Ince was Gervais’s stooge, being mocked and essentially bullied. You wonder how much of that was real? Because the blossomed Ince of Radio 4 and lovely books, is a joyous human being whose passion for stand-up matches his passion for reading.
We bask in Ince’s love of comedy, talking about The Goodies, Eddie Izzard, Barry Cryer, Sean Lock and many others, including the activist Barry Crimmins.
He talks of his career chasing early years being a warm-up for panel shows and writing for Graham Norton, emerging to become who he actually is rather than who he thought he should be.
There was a great section all about his ADHD diagnosis, that seems to be at the centre of Ince’s new found freedom and happiness.
If you ever needed a pep-talk to restore your faith in humanity, you should go and see Robin Ince immediately.
