THEATRE REVIEW: Rich Hall at the Spa Theatre on Saturday, November 13, 2010. Review by Ian Duncan.

RICH Hall ambles on stage in his trademark cowboy shirt and black jeans and immediately shares with the audience the woes of the current tour in glamorous locations such as Barrow-in-Furness.

Apparently he has fulfilled a lifelong ambition to play the second largest theatre in Scarborough – pronounced Scar-bo-ro.

Rich lives on a ranch in Montana but spends a lot of his time in the UK – he is married to a Liverpudlian – and has a good grasp of British Politics. You can sense his dismay at the coalition government as he points out that the current economic mess is not our fault but we are being made to suffer and feel guilty.

The first rule of going to a comedy gig is never to go to the toilet in the middle of the main act’s performance but Trevor still managed to make this mistake. While he was away his pregnant girlfriend, under intense interrogation from Rich, let slip that her web designer boyfriend was messy around the house and still had not popped the question. Boy was he going to pay for that later in the show.

Other targets to fall into the line of fire of Rich’s sardonic, deadpan, delivery included the American multi-national corporation Kraft – he likened its recent hostile takeover of British firm Cadbury’s to a school yard bully demanding chocolate from the smaller kids – Scottish bank notes, newspaper obituaries and terrorism.

And I cannot miss out heckler Ricardo with his random outbursts from the audience which were skilfully worked into the act.

After a 15 minute interlude the second half was a bit more musical with improvised songs, on guitar and keyboards, as well as more stories.

He tells us that his ranch is infested with prairie dogs which are a sort of cross between a meerkat and a squirrel. And, because his wife is a Brit and likes fluffy animals, a humane method of disposal was needed. This involves a massive vacuum cleaner and tube placed down a hole in the ground. The suction is so strong that they probably get brain damage. But, not to worry because, the catcher releases them across the valley ensuring an endless supply of work.

And, after more surreal stories about visiting Buckingham Palace, Osama Bin Laden and the possibility of being immortalised as a sandwich, he finishes with an improvised song to try and press gang Trevor into proposing – which was all to no avail but quite embarrassing for Trevor.

After a couple of encores which included one of his classic songs – all about the George Foreman Grill – the show was over.

There were some astute observations and I was impressed with the apparent ease he could improvise songs and put down hecklers – all with deadpan panache.

My advice is simple: if Rich Hall comes back to Scarborough go and see him because it is a show not to be missed.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Wednesday, November 17, 2010.