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Tim Vine 2005 'The Current Pun Tour' - with special guest John Archer
Warwick Arts Theatre
17th April 2005
Reviewed by Mark Shortland
Tim Vine is back on the road ably supported by John Archer, and I caught up with
them in Warwick and... well... words cannot describe what they did to the
audience, the show was phenomenal.
This is a brand new show with John providing the entertainment in the first half
and Tim doing the second half with an hour of completely new material - not bad
for a man who holds the world record for the most number of jokes (499) told in
one hour. This is Tim at his best: jokes, sight gags, songs, and by far the
greatest ever opening line I've heard. I will not tell you any of the jokes as
they mean nothing, unless you hear them told by Tim, as he is the master of
mirth, the Prince of the Pun, the joke machine gun. By the end I did not have
time to stop laughing.
Supported by an on-form John Archer, who built the show from the start with some
of his familiar routines like the balloon swallow, which certainly got the
attention of the audience and had a nice call back at the end of the set. The
blind-folded drawing had his lady volunteer in hysterics, and the rest of the
audience too when one of the drawers tried to walk off with the pen. The 6 card
repeat is not really a trick you would associate with John, but after you see
him do it you will agree it has had the Archer thought process given to it and
is another masterpiece. He finished with his new grandma's box routine which I
had not seen and is still being worked in, so by the end of the tour will be
another of those tricks you can only see John doing. The whole act flowed
beautifully, this was John Archer being a great magician, no props just magic,
and it was.
As for the finale, last year you would have seen Tim accompanied by John in a
musical number that brought the house down, well even though it was not possible
to improve on it they have. This is something that should not be missed.
Upcoming dates for the tour are available on Tim's website
www.timvine.com and
honestly you will not regret it, they are genius together. Tim is also taking
this show to the Edinburgh Festival for the three weeks although John will not
be with him for that, so go now while there is still chance to see them both.
© Mark Shortland, April 2005