Tom Stade

The Place@Oakengates Theatre, Telford

review by Peter Kitchen

For some comedians being known for one joke can be either a blessing or a curse. Happily, for Tom Stade, it’s the former.

When the Canadian comic appeared on BBC1’s Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow his signature joke was an epic tale about a meat auction man selling his wares in Wolverhampton.

So he must have known his luck was in when on he happened upon a meat van man during his early exchanges in the audience. And he also got a huge cheer from a group in the audience from Bilston, Stade’s old stomping ground, which proved the inspiration for his gag.

It was that kind of night for Stade; everything he tried went to plan. You half wished he’d have bought a Lottery ticket on his way to the venue, he’d have left it a millionaire.

When Stade joked about the poor person who has to fold all the discarded clothes on the floor of Primark stores a student in the audience piped up to say that was his part-time job.

Stade took his audience on a global tour of current affairs, from the obesity crisis in America to poverty in Africa and the war on terror in Afghanistan. But he also brought proceedings back to every day pitfalls – including the strain of marriage and shopping in catalogue stores.

Stade, who also co-starred and co-wrote Frankie Boyle’s Channel 4 series Tramadol Nights, has been travelling the length of Britain since January as part of his debut tour. His ability to engage the audience – selecting individual members to become the unlikely stars of his show – was impressive indeed.

Stade wrapped the night up with his meat van man joke. He may have, in his own words, told it “a thousand times”, but it is one gag that will always serve him well.