19th February, 2024

Jon Tilley: (Old Man) Sailing By

Guildhall, Leicester

The old man enacts scenes inspired by a box of items. It wasn’t clear whether the old man missed his son who may have been dead, or if it was his younger self he missed. Some of the pop culture references were clearly lost on the younger viewers, but I was tickled by him swapping a tea bag for a mug a-La Indiana Jones. Overall it was a sweet work.

19th February, 2024

Jon & Ollie: Strictly Barking

Guildhall, Leicester

A sweet clown act with a simple story well portrayed with distinctive characters. I enjoyed that each of the duo played both a human and animal character. The kids clearly loved the noises and slapstick, there was plenty of simple joining-in and easy characters to get behind with “ooohs” and “aaahs”. Lots of fun and laughs.