As the excitement builds towards the Edinburgh Fringe I always think of the ones that got away. The shows that for whatever reason I thought were brilliant but didn't tickle the awards judges. And top of my list is Jack Tucker, the monstrous comic creation of Zach Zucker who is maybe just too sensational for awards. You can currently see him in Soho and then he returns to Edinburgh for just one night. Details below.
Tucker's Comedy Standup Hour – nearly 90 minutes last night but who is counting? – packs in so much it leaves you breathless. There are straight gags, sound effects, visual gags, knockabout moments, prop gags, slapstick, a bit of satire, a snatch of song. It's like a Tom and Jerry cartoon come to life. Jonny Woolley, who co-devised and presses the buttons to create the endless sound effects, must risk RSI every night, while Michael Bolton-haired co-deviser Dylan Woodley risks life and limb coming onstage to chip in on roller skates, attempting to give Tucker awards mid-performance, usually ending up flat on his back. There's also a trumpeter.
But it's the Gaulier-trained Zucker who dominates, holding court in between blasts of gunshot, deafening airhorns, Lenny Kravitz's American Woman and a running gag about Who Let The Dogs Out? by The Baha Men. He's the ultimate Vegas showman wannabe, a nutty Jerry Lewis who thinks he's a smooth Dean Martin. And boy does he put in the effort. I haven't seen anyone sweat like this since Lee Evans at his peak. I was surprised Tucker was still onstage at the end, I thought there might just be a puddle.
Tucker opens by attempting to tell a joke about watching The Weather Channel but is soon derailed by events – both externally and internally. While it might seem like chaos onstage it is probably also chaos in this character's mind, as it gradually emerges that he is a man trying to hold his life together and not crack up after a messy break-up.
I've previously seen Zucker in a double act with Britain's Got Talent winner Viggo Venn and they both share a freewheeling, fun-loving, risk-taking sensibility. Anything goes as long as the aim is getting a laugh. The gunshot sound effects were probably in the set before the Trump incident, but now there's an added topical spin to them.
But any back story plays second fiddle to the top class comedy. It's classic clowning in the spirit of Venn and Dr Brown but also harking back to Vic and Bob,and way back to vaudeville and the likes of Ernie Kovacs. The chaos is clearly of the controlled variety. Zucker knows what he is doing as Tucker sends up the "you're the best crowd I've ever played to" oily sincerity of old school showbiz. It might be a packed house in Soho but it isn't quite the arena audience of 9000 fans he claims to be facing.
A lot of the audience clearly know the act and are devotees. They sing along to segments and gamely play along with Tucker's delusions. But you don't have to be in on the jokes to get them. It doesn't take long to get on board with the madness.
Jack Tucker is one in a million. It's anti-comedy but also pure comedy. Tucker is so brilliantly over the top he is terrifyingly hilarious. Embrace the lunacy and enjoy.
Until July 27. Buy tickets here. Also Pleasance, Edinburgh August 21. Buy tickets here.
Read a new interview with Zach Zucker here.
*****
