Gag reel
MILTON JONES
Cabaret
When most comedians ask the audience a question, they are looking for a murmur of recognition -- some sign of warmth to ease them into the joke.
Milton Jones sounds as if he’s after the same effect. That is, until you register what he's saying.
"Awkward, isn’t it," runs a typical opener, "being both a moth and a sea-captain? In charge of a ship, and yet when you see a lighthouse…"
His appearance could have primed you for something odd -- he's in a sweater the charity shop wouldn't want back and sports who-woke-me-up hair. There is an apparent sleepiness in his delivery, too: he trails off mid-sentence as soon as his quicker listeners can be expected to guess the rest.
Then he glances around for a few seconds as the rest of us catch up, and starts brightly on another topic of common interest.
Say: "Have you ever fallen asleep while eating a plate of aubergines?" Or: "Farmers -- they take a lot of heroin."
If the pay-off is a little more obvious than normal -- as with the farmers, who are preparation for a "needle in a haystack" gag -- he may not even have to say it. He just stops, waits for the realisation and the laugh, then moves on. This is the king of the one-and-a-half-liner.
The bareness of his act, all short sections, no linking material, might seem limiting. There are plenty of comedians who reveal more of themselves in ten minutes than Jones has in several series of radio shows.
But he gives expert flashes of other techniques -- mimicry, visual humour -- suggesting tight focus has more to do with his style than any lack of talent. He simply wanders on stage and is funny, no complications. And among stand-ups this clever, that’s starting to seem unorthodox.
Cabaret
When most comedians ask the audience a question, they are looking for a murmur of recognition -- some sign of warmth to ease them into the joke.
Milton Jones sounds as if he’s after the same effect. That is, until you register what he's saying.
"Awkward, isn’t it," runs a typical opener, "being both a moth and a sea-captain? In charge of a ship, and yet when you see a lighthouse…"
His appearance could have primed you for something odd -- he's in a sweater the charity shop wouldn't want back and sports who-woke-me-up hair. There is an apparent sleepiness in his delivery, too: he trails off mid-sentence as soon as his quicker listeners can be expected to guess the rest.
Then he glances around for a few seconds as the rest of us catch up, and starts brightly on another topic of common interest.
Say: "Have you ever fallen asleep while eating a plate of aubergines?" Or: "Farmers -- they take a lot of heroin."
If the pay-off is a little more obvious than normal -- as with the farmers, who are preparation for a "needle in a haystack" gag -- he may not even have to say it. He just stops, waits for the realisation and the laugh, then moves on. This is the king of the one-and-a-half-liner.
The bareness of his act, all short sections, no linking material, might seem limiting. There are plenty of comedians who reveal more of themselves in ten minutes than Jones has in several series of radio shows.
But he gives expert flashes of other techniques -- mimicry, visual humour -- suggesting tight focus has more to do with his style than any lack of talent. He simply wanders on stage and is funny, no complications. And among stand-ups this clever, that’s starting to seem unorthodox.
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