Review: Russell Howard, Wonderbox, Theatre Severn
Sometimes comedy gigs just descend into farce. In a way, that's no surprise – stand-ups like Mock the Week and Good news star Russell Howard base their acts around the sheer madness that goes in inside people's heads and their lives.
And in the case of Howard's gig at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury, the craziness only added to a night filled with laughs.
His show ended with Howard taking a selfie with a happy fan on the stage, reading out birthday announcements and signing tickets bought by fans at their request.
On being challenged for not wearing a cool enough T-shirt, he offered to swap tops with members of the audience – only for no-one to come up with a shirt he was prepared to put on. It did lead to one man in the audience running around shirtless for a few moments. It was one of those nights.
This was a treat for Shropshire comedy fans. Howard was trying out new material ahead of his 47-date international arena Wonderbox tour.
At times Howard pushed the boundaries of social decency, but the predominantly young audience lapped it up.
The audience interaction played a greater role towards the end of the show – and happily for Howard his public seemed just as crazy as he had earlier claimed.
By Peter Kitchen
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