TIM Vine's act is like the expanding universe. At some point there must have been a verbal 'Big Bang' when he heard his first pun – maybe a 'Dr, Dr' joke – that set off a still-expanding repertoire of puns and wordplay.
What is amazing is that he
still can keep going. One might have thought that he had already played upon every word with play potential. But no. This year he is back with all guns blazing. Well, just two actually, and they are toys. He kicks off the show with a fistful of cowboy-related puns (he does arrive wearing a cowboy outfit, so it would have been churlish not to) and, having left the track signposted with a picture of a pastry-covered meat snack placed on Van Gogh's missing body part (yes, the pie-on-ear trail), he launches into the non-stop, pun-party that is his show.
He has his usual bag of comedy props, and one of the many great joys of the show is trying desperately, as he withdraws some random object like a blow-up sheep or a plastic funnel, to guess what comedy Vine will torture out of it. In fact, so much faith do the audience have in this genial joke-box that we all start laughing when the object appears, in anticipation of the punchline.
To puns and props, Vine adds some absolutely appalling songs – not only can he not hit a note, I am surprised the notes don't hit him back. However, the songs are delightfully funny, which is, after all, the point. The endless inventiveness of the man simply beggars belief.
If you had gone you would have heard about his new gameshow idea "Does My Bum Look Big In This?", have found out the effect of eating too much pasta, discovered the Variety Pack Display Team, and giggled as he even managed a joke about a small blue garden bird made of mahogany. You would have left loving the man.
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The full article contains 348 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
