Hilariously Surreal: Spencer Jones At Soho Theatre

Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind, Soho Theatre ★★★☆☆

Hari Mountford
By Hari Mountford Last edited 51 months ago

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Hilariously Surreal: Spencer Jones At Soho Theatre Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind, Soho Theatre 3
Photo: Aly Wight

Question: What happens if you cross Mr Bean with The Mighty Boosh? The answer: Spencer Jones. No, this is not a bad joke from a cheap Christmas cracker, but a very real description of the utter weirdness of the comedy of Spencer Jones, an Edinburgh Festival famed comedian who is probably unlike anything you've seen before.

In his show The Things We Leave Behind, Jones is less of a perfectly-well-timed-one-liner type of comedian and more of a what-the-hell-am-I-watching-and-why-am-I-laughing type guy. Jones’ alter-ego is failing comedian Herbert Clunkerdink, who is attempting to create a show from the things people have left behind — no matter if it's an old wooden pallet at the side of the road, an empty carrier bag, or disused hoover, he will find a gag that makes us of it.

Photo: Jonathan Birch

Jones uses his loop pedal (probably also something left behind) to play his own voice behind his crazy songs — imagine an aspiring Bill Bailey minus the musical prowess. His insanely memorable song ‘Do you remember my mum?’ is the sort of tune that will refuse to leave your head for a good few days.

Photo: Aly Wight

Creepy puppets (which play his wife and kids) are the stuff of nightmares, and the final scene, with members of the audience wearing rubber bum masks to impersonate Jones’ teenage band, The Bumheads, perfectly sum up the whole show: everyone is laughing yet no one really knows what’s happening.

Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind, Soho Theatre. Tickets from £13, until 14 December 2019.

Last Updated 09 December 2019

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