Joel Dommett has been so busy since he was a runner-up on I’m a Celebrity in 2016 it is understandable if he has had little time to write a whole new full-length touring show. So it is probably handy that his Netflix debut is only a tight little half-hour special, one of four UK-based acts to get a release this week alongside acts from all around the world.
The other names most recognisable to British audience are Ellie Taylor, Mae Martin and Nish Kumar. They all have a following but Dommett is probably the most mainstream name and his comedy here is definitely on the populist side, deriving a lot of its humour from Dommett’s puppyish charm and innocence.
We don’t get his story of being catfished and sex-taped that featured in his last show, but some of the act here dates back to his 2016 Edinburgh set and maybe even beyond. There’s a lovely running gag about his enduring youthful obsession with nunchucks and a nice bit of well-honed physical comedy as he mimes trying to get past a sleeping passenger on a crowded airline flight.
Give or take the fact that he opens with “Hello Canada” this could be a slightly extended headline set on Live at the Apollo, with the emphasis on relatable observational, universal humour. His amiable routine about the impossibility of slamming Venetian blinds angrily is surely a close relation to routines about not being able to slam down a mobile phone like you could with a landline.
Another familiar set-piece recalls his experience of shooting a topless cover for Gay Times. He was advised to drink lots of water then urinate just before the shoot so that he would look suitably ripped. But could he hold his wee in? Well, would it be a stand-up tour de force if he had? Take a guess.
There is some strong personal stuff here about him bonding with his father over racing cars and taking his dad out to an unusual restaurant. There is something very genuine about Dommett onstage. He might arguably be the best looking male comedian in the UK but he is certainly not fixated on being cool and he is definitely not afraid to send himself up and admit to behaving like a dick. And if you watch the show you’ll see that dicks feature heavily in it.
Watch on Netflix now.
