Come on, Bromsgrovians – you can do better than this! Last night I was amongst a sparse audience in the Artrix main house to watch local stand-up comedian, the self-styled Fat Theo.
I was fully expecting it to be packed out as – along with live theatre – comedy nights are a rare treat on the stage of the town’s premier performance space. It was also my first time seeing Theo perform anywhere and felt ‘here is a guy with a unique voice that deserves to be heard’.
Before he gave us his new show, there were support routines from the talents of Danny Strachan and Katie Slater. Danny played on his likeness to Bruce Willis and offered us dubious financial advice as a ‘Council-estate Martin Lewis’. The BBC came in from some hard-edged jibes as well. Katie was more self-effacing using her bad luck with men as the main core of her routine. She has the bubbliness of a female football pundit in a male dominated domain and – not too subtly – procures both our laughter and respect.
Theo’s 60-minute show was a mixed bunch of satire, observational comedy and embellished real life experiences. All entertaining stuff from a smooth voice that could just as easily be an actor as a comedian. In fact, the best part of the show for me was his tales of his first acting experiences in pantomime; the lure of the greasepaint and the quirkiness of his fellow cast members.
Musical Tribute acts (which currently fill most of the calendar at the Artrix) are undeniably popular and certainly have their place, but they will always be just copies of original artists. Fat Theo offers up originality – small though the audience were, they were very appreciative. Let’s spread the word for the next time: contender now – champ tomorrow!
4th Jun, 2026
