Despite looking like a tall, fat Rik Mayall (his words), Greg Davies is actually funny, and he finally gets the chance to show how good he is as a solo performer away from Klang with this new DVD, Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog.
Away from We Are Klang and The Inbetweeners, Davies is able to build the sort of rapport with an audience that you would expect from a standup comedian and uses this to great effect in a routine which regularly returns to the subkect of school. As a real-life ex-teacher, Davies has plenty of material from this area of life, and as a human being he can also recall his time as a pupil. This affords the opportunity for the comic to present his show as a sort of autobiographical assortment of amusing facts, incidents and so forth about his life.
However, the highlight is probably nicknames. Despite all the work that went into the show, the biggest laughs definitely come from the way in which nicknames were assigned to people Davies knew; one particular classic is the kid called Kevin who was known as “Sue” because his hair was a bit long.
Yet there is a dark undertone to proceedings as Davies recalls being a clinically depressed drama teacher with children he couldn’t stand. It’s amusingly regaled with impersonations of (surely impossible) pupils and if you don’t laugh at the fact that the kids thought that Davies was the greatest teacher ever despite the fact that he basically made up lessons on the spot, then you will surely be entertained by the tale of Greg’s S&M dog.
Don’t ask, just buy it.
Seriously, you have to head to Amazon or your local preferred bricks and mortar digital entertainment store and get yourself a copy of this. Lining up against a pantheon of comedy greats out on DVD this Christmas (Peter Kay, Dylan Moran, et al) Greg Davies’ show is certainly the most inventive and by far and away the funniest.
Having seen him turn up on Mock the Week and one or two other shows as himself, I had reasonably high hopes for this DVD but nothing could have prepared me for the amount of laughter generated by this tall, middle-aged, slightly ungainly chap with a chip on his shoulder about being 42. Perhaps its an age thing (although I’m a lot younger) but there is an honest charm about Greg that you don’t find with some of the bigger names in the industry like McIntrye, or perhaps Alan Carr. There’s no needless campery or skipping across the stage, just a funny man telling funny stories in front of a biggish audience that he has genuinely connected with.
If Davies gets the chance to play bigger venues he should certainly take it, but in the meantime if you don’t buy this DVD then you won’t get to see how well a live comedy show can be done. After all, Davies was nominated for the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival, so he must be doing something right.
Of course, you’re surely going to buy Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog