A new tour from Mark Thomas but not necessarily all-new material. Revised would be a more appropriate term. Even though I'd seen him perform the same bits twice on the last tour, his passionate performance carried him through. his hotchpotch of gags, stories and political vehemence for the Tories still generating the requisite belly laughs and shoulder wobblers.
Tonight's message was to look after your communities because no one in power is going to do so. Before the interval, he encouraged us to consider what our song for Glasgow would be, our city anthem as it were, expecting us to come up with something for the second half. Someone immediately shouted, "Billy Connolly", confusing Mark as the Big Yin isn't a song. This was then followed up by "If it wisnae for yer wellies" sparking the crowd to launch spontaneously into a rendition of the song up to the chorus. A live moment that touched Mark's heart (and mine).
A loud librarian also played a key role in proceedings tonight when she threw in the word bomb "Bastards" in response to something Mark said. Mark asked her to repeat it not having made out what she said. Three goes later another helpful punter translated the word for him: "illegitimate persons". Mark later dubbed her the Loudbrarian and invited her to chuck in her catchphrase at appropriate moments.
My wife spotted the comedian Parrot in the audience sitting in front of us. He didn't offer to act as MC tonight, which was probably best for all of us.
Although I may have heard Mark's Wimbledon AFC chants, his Barry Cryer stories, his gag about sharps bins (that wouldn't apply in GG&C) and all his tales about his mum, it was still a fantastic night of comedy. Exactly what I needed after not having my best day at work.
On the way home, a crash on the motorway brought traffic to a crawl. Three lanes out of four were strewn with debris. One car sat perpendicular to the traffic, its nose nudging the central crash barrier, another had been crushed in the rear and had people working on it to open the side doors. Other vehicles sat parked on all the affected lanes, their hazard lights flashing. No sign of police or ambulance yet on the scene. With only one lane open and everyone angling to go along it, one smartarse in a white Audi SUV overtook everyone, dashing up the hard shoulder. I reckoned this qualified him as the word Mark called the Tories. It began with C and wasn't Conservative.
Nuff said.
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