Josh Thomas Please Like Me
Never trust anyone who enjoyed high school.
In his grown-up festival show, brutal honesty is the name of the game for Josh Thomas, who mines his relationships with his parents, the school bully, the girl who sort of touched him while they were naked, and his testicles.
Winner of last year’s Raw Comedy competition, Thomas is an interesting new voice in Australian comedy. At nineteen years of age, he is a surprising discovery for a couple of reasons: firstly, for someone so new to the scene he has developed an interesting and distinct voice; and secondly, he has a very entertaining hour of material (Five minutes is the average length of a Raw Comedy performance.).
Personally, I try not to engage in conversations with anyone under the age of twenty-five because of the pain it causes my eyeballs when I have to roll them and sigh mid-way through every sentence. So allowing a teenager to talk at me for an evening didn’t really seem like the best plan. However, very quickly into his set, my fears, as they say, were allayed.
Despite dealing with immature and personal themes, Thomas immediately engaged and maintained the pace and standard of material throughout his performance. The show, entitled Please Like Me, is pretty much an hour-long self-deprecating tour de force.
Thomas is so disarming and so self-deprecating that you barely notice that he mercilessly mocks everyone he mentions.
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Miss Thingitty Thing-Thing
Having attended the Comedy Zone show last year & found Josh and showmate Matt’s performances amongst the better of the 11 shows I caught, I was certain that I’d include Please Like Me in the 5 I saw this year, being on the dole as I am at the moment & having spent my money on the V Festival etc. And that is really saying something since these two people in Comedy Zone pipped the likes of Judith Lucy, Akmal & Hughesy in my view last year, none of whose shows were all that fantastic, I thought. It was a pleasant surprise to see him included in this year’s Fest though I think I presumed he’d be in it. I just saw Merrick & Rosso & while I love the boys, aside from occasional flashes of the pure gold of yore, once again I liked Thomas’ show better. After seeing The Shambles last week my suspicion is beginning to be confirmed that “young and fresh” goes a long way. I’m a good decade older than Josh & almost all of The Shambles’ audience but it’s to the credit of all the aforementioned that though their themes to some extent centre around a much younger age, their humour attains a universality borne of that one failsafe ingredient- consistent, genuine wit. I think The Groggy Squirrel review described Thomas as “the quintessential sensitive indie boy” & I think that sums up his appeal to me nicely, although Josh is quite the potty mouth this year (!) which doesn’t exactly go with that image, but what the hell, I realise it’s a good confidence booster. Just that it detracts slightly from Thomas’ humour sometimes I think. But I’m not criticising, it’d be very hard in his position to guage such subtle nuances & considering he gets his timing & delivery 90% right anyway it doesn’t matter much. I love Josh’s crazy stories of his friends’, girlfriends’ & parents’ fruity behaviour, & that’s why I went back this time. I can’t believe the things his parents say about sex, dicks & er, balls etc! He joked about being a Harry Potter fan & not liking Lord Of The Rings much (same as me), I got home & my housemate was watching Lord Of The Rings! My housemate thought the “Please Like Me” badge & sticker were hilarious, too. I noticed his show sold out tonight, so congratulations Josh, I hope it was a good season for you. Rock on, you little Aussie champion, you!
Apr 27th, 2007
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