We should probably forgive Spencer Jones for his show Eggy Bagel – revived after an Edinburgh fringe run – being ramshackle. For a start, that’s the point: Jones’s alter ego The Herbert is a gormless clown, and his prop comedy is, intentionally, the antithesis of slick. Then there’s Jones’s schedule, with a role in Ben Elton’s Shakespeare comedy Upstart Crow, and recent pilots for his own Mr Bean-ish sitcoms on both Sky and the BBC, alongside a booming live career.
Given all that, what matter that his Eggy Bagel performance is short, disjointed and, on this occasion, prone to bouts of forgetfulness? It remains a disarming 45 minutes, because Jones has devised several irresistibly daft set pieces and because he radiates relentless, goofy self-delight.
The style is instantly set, as Jones – outsize shoulder pads, pudding bowl haircut – inflates his tights to ludicrous dimensions while looping a vocal about being a “dickhead”. There follows a crude piece of baby-doll puppetry, a dialogue with a chattering toilet brush, and a very funny impersonation of “a posh woman falling to her death”, that makes creative use of a leaf blower and a DIY ribbon headdress.
It’s childlike bordering on childish: kids would love it. A through-line about the last days of Jones’ dad – an undercover cop, apparently – threatens to supply significance, but never quite does. But there’s always another sweetly silly visual gag brewing, like the showstopper involving an iPad, an audience member, and a crooning penis. It’s scattershot, but it’s fun.
• At Soho theatre, London, until 13 May. Box office: 020-7478 0100.
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