To a generation Greg Davies is, and probably always will be, irritable sixth form head Mr Gilbert who made life a misery for the lead cast of cult hit show The Inbetweeners, however beyond that Davies is a fine stand up comedian and is also picking up much praise for his madcap new show Man Down, which has just been commissioned a second series by channel 4.
This week Greg was in Nottingham with his latest show Back of My Mum’s Head during which he regaled us with tales of his past as he explored the idea that nobody is actually “normal”. The new show actually ties in with the concept of his TV series as Greg tells us about growing up with far from normal parents – it soon becomes pretty clear that the idea for Rik Mayall’s father character in Man Down did not originate far from home.
It is little secret that, prior to a life in comedy, Davies was a teacher and he slips into teacher mode early on as he presents us with a list of topics for the evening ahead which such topics as Audience Interaction, Soundscape and Moving Song included.
The “Soundscape” turned out to be a recreation by Greg of his favourite five involuntary noises, we were also treated to a collection of new quotes to take with us into his life, including the exceptional words uttered by his brother in law upon the birth of Greg’s niece and even a piece of performance art featuring two members of the audience playing the roles of Greg’s parents.
It’s hard to garner with Greg where the true stories end and the creative licensing takes over, such is his madcap performance and over sized personality that it’s easy to imagine all the tales that he recalls happening to him, the story of his exchange with a taxi driver about the ingredients of a pie are a case in point – the tale sounds like something that is “based on real life” in the same way a box office movie is – however you can’t shake that little niggle that maybe, just maybe, the whole thing is true. You certainly hope it is.
Greg wraps things up with a song about a bonsai tree, probably the first, and last time, you’ll hear such a song in a comedy show, but it leads to a hugely enjoyable ending that has the audience all involved.
All in all this was everything I’d come to expect from Greg Davies, it was excitable, loud, insane and very, very funny.
It certainly gets an A+ from me.
