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Tim Key had the showbiz world at his feet, about to appear on Pointless Celebrities and also lined up for the part of a paedophile in an episode of Vera. And then the country went into lockdown, and now two years later he’s back playing student union gigs wearing a tracksuit. Welcome to the bizarre, surreal and brilliant world of one of the UK’s finest stand-up comedians.
Best known for appearances in various Alan Partridge projects, it takes just a few moments of Mulberry to realise that Key’s talent and imagination goes far deeper than those brief moments as Steve Coogan’s foil.
The focus of the show is lockdown and he asks which of the three lockdowns was their favourite. Key preferred the first one, at least when it began. His account of spending lockdown alone, and going from being a potential celebrity on Pointless to being a pointless answer in a photo round on ordinary Pointless is laced with a wonderful humour but also supreme pathos.
The short poems he reads from the back of playing cards, often nonsensical and containing moments of absurd but exact observational melancholy, fit perfectly with the mood. With other comedians it could seem like self-indulgent whimsy, but with Key it’s elevated to another level, part of his character, part of his show, all the pieces coming together to create a superb whole.
At times, he can come across as confrontational, moving away from the microphone and shouting with anger and frustration, or responding to contributions from audience members with the dismissive answer ‘everyone’s got a story.’ At other times, there are moving insights into what lockdown was like for someone whose career is based on being in packed rooms and found himself trapped in his own house doing Zoom gigs that ended not with crowds going to a bar, but with a laptop lid closing and the world disappearing.
One of the few truly original comedians on the circuit and a cut above most of the competition, Mulberry is a must-see show.
Pleasance Dome, to 28 August
Could not agree more