{"id":465,"date":"2018-03-15T07:06:07","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T07:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=465"},"modified":"2018-05-11T07:39:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T07:39:00","slug":"review-milton-jones-is-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/15\/review-milton-jones-is-out-there\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: MILTON JONES IS OUT THERE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radio 4 listeners will be familiar with Milton Jones\u2019 surrealist sense of humour and endless stream of one-liners. Your cultural correspondent was curious as to whether his particular style of comedy would work in an extended format \u2013 he need not have worried, as he could barely stop laughing for the whole show. Milton Jones edges sideways on the stage dressed as Great Britain, in order to give Brexit and Scottish Independence a wry sideways glance – geddit? Support act Chris Stokes offered up twenty minutes of amiable comedy to an already contented audience, with stories of everyday life \u2013 from his Black Country childhood, to the breakup of his marriage, from injured pigeons to dog walkers. Stokes is an ideal comedian to put in front of Jones\u2019s audience \u2013 very different to Jones but likeable, inoffensive and funny.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second half of the show is a well-crafted hour plus of comedy from Jones. Scattered props and some slides on a big screen create a space in which Jones can run around. A birdhouse houses an old dial phone. A wheelie bin filled with many large flags, which Jones uses for a bit of business about nations speaking to each other. Built entirely around one-liners, there is always a punchline but it is never going to be the one you expect, and that is why Jones excels. Behind his demeanour of a very silly man is a brain that can connect words and notions in a unique way. There were times in the act where Jones makes a point of pausing so that half the people in the room can catch up with his wit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones breaks up the show with some improvisation, asking the audience to come up with subjects for him to deliver lines on. Coming up with a strong, hour long set and memorizing its material is very impressive. Being able to come up with clever one-lines on the spot is remarkable. Dealing with a persistent heckler was equally impressive. The random heckles, followed by a giggled \u2018I\u2019m sorry\u2019 from one audience member, provided a good ten minutes more material. The persistence of these interruptions was beginning to grate but Jones handled this all with ease and grace.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the way home after the show, your correspondent tried to remember any of the brilliant one-liners and could not \u2013 testimony to his ability to combine trickery with language with a weird juxtaposition of ideas that are unlikely to ever occur to anyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radio 4 listeners will be familiar with Milton Jones\u2019 surrealist sense of humour and endless stream of one-liners. Your cultural correspondent was curious as to whether his particular style of comedy would work in an extended format \u2013 he need … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[161,262,265],"class_list":["post-465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-comedy","tag-issue-175","tag-milton-jones"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-7v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":385,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/01\/review-dave-spikey-a-juggler-on-a-motorbike\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":0},"title":"REVIEW: DAVE SPIKEY, A JUGGLER ON A MOTORBIKE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 1 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Dave Spikey played the Grand Theatre on the night of the first day of the industrial action. However, no mention of strikes, Brexit, Trump, or Boris in this act: the gathered throng was treated to two hours of beautifully crafted mini tales and sketches based around the story of his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "review"","block_context":{"text":"review","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":248,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/12\/07\/mark-thomas-a-show-that-gambles-on-the-future-a-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":1},"title":"MARK THOMAS: A SHOW THAT GAMBLES ON THE FUTURE. A REVIEW","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"December 7 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Thomas was back at the Dukes on Wednesday 29th November. After last year's poignant, moving and very funny theatre show 'The Red Shed' (see subtext 156) he returned to the Dukes with more traditional stand-up fare. This time it's just him, a microphone, a few scraps of paper and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "review"","block_context":{"text":"review","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":393,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/01\/analysis-lusu-elections\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":2},"title":"ANALYSIS: LUSU ELECTIONS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 1 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The nominations for the next batch of LUSU Sabbatical Officers have closed, and it has the potential to be historic. The winners will have been announced by the time subtext's next issue is out, and readers can expect a full analysis of LUSU's new lineup. For now, we will focus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1274,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/06\/19\/the-liddle-of-nowhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":3},"title":"The Liddle of Nowhere","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"June 19 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Vale, Lord Liddle. LU Text reported on 12 June that, after seven years in post, our Pro-Chancellor will not be seeking reappointment when his term of office ends later this year (he's due to step down on 31 July) and the University is now searching for 'an exceptional individual' to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":927,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2019\/03\/01\/students-union-hustings-a-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":4},"title":"STUDENTS’ UNION HUSTINGS – A REPORT","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 1 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Scene: County South Lecture Theatre, Thursday 28 February, 7pm onwards, set out cabaret style. Audience: probably just short of 100 people, though this fluctuated a lot. Lighting: usually this was on 'low', except for the several moments when (we think some of the audience were leaning on the light switches)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "contributed article"","block_context":{"text":"contributed article","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/contributed-article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":474,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/15\/lusu-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":465,"position":5},"title":"LUSU NEWS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 15 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"ELECTION Amidst all the \u2018disruption of the student experience\u2019 caused by the strike, the LUSU sabbatical elections rolled around last week, and six new people have been elected to replace the outgoing officers. The results were as follows: President: Rhiannon Llystyn Jones Vice-President (Union Development): Matty Robinson Vice-President (Activities): Toby\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}