Much more than Mr Gilbert (From Salisbury Journal)

Much more than Mr Gilbert

12:37pm Thursday 1st November 2012 in Entertainments

THE BACK OF MY MUM'S HEAD, GREG DAVIES, SALISBURY CITY HALL

MOST people know him for his role as the fantastically sarcastic Mr Gilbert in Channel 4 series The Inbetweeners, but for me Greg Davies is so much more than his well-known character.

If you haven’t seen him do stand-up, make sure you do.

Having caught the wonderfully-titled Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog as part of Salisbury International Arts Festival last year, I knew what to expect from Davies’ stand-up and he doesn’t disappoint with his latest show The Back of My Mum’s Head.

Davies’ teacher background shone through as he revealed a board displaying the topics he planned to cover and then, aided by visual displays, a soundscape and audience participation, the larger-than-life comedian (quite literally at 6ft 8in) bounded around the stage with enthusiasm, despite his complaints about middleage and his expanding gut.

Anyone who saw his first show will know Davies gets a lot of his material from the little gems his parents come out with and he had the audience in stitches with more family-based anecdotes and a roleplay with a woman from the audience as his mum for a very funny exchange.

He topped the evening off with a funny song about bonsai trees, which I can’t get out of my head, and a special costumed appearance by his support, Ed Gamble, who was also very funny.

This wonderful comedian can only grow in popularity and will hopefully soon be known by many more people for more than just Mr Gilbert.

COREY ROSS