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The Interminable Suicide Of Gregory Church, by Daniel Kitson - Fringe 2009
Live Review

The Interminable Suicide Of Gregory Church is everything you would come to expect from Daniel Kitson’s now traditional annual monologue: a fanciful, tender and romanticised story of a glimpsed life, full of humanity, pathos and warm wit. It’s another step towards making his surname into an adjective to describe this sort of theatrical delight: Kitsonesque.

This particular fiction starts two years ago, when Kitson was looking to move house. In one rural property he viewed, he was delighted to discover an unexpected loft, which he duly scrabbled into – much to the chagrin of the estate agent. There he discovered 30,659 letters spanning 24 years, including one that particularly caught his eye: a suicide note, still poking out of the antique typewriter.

Intrigued, Kitson acquired the 22 boxes and painstakingly sifted through the correspondence, piecing together a life, letter by letter. It soon becomes apparent that the home’s former owner Gregory Church, first planned to take his own life at the very start of the correspondence, writing 57 letters in succession to put his affairs in order – so why did it take him so long?

As the pieces gradually fall together like a jigsaw, Kitson forensically fills in the gaps in this stranger’s life, in a story which soon comes to resemble a Dickensian novel with its many strands. Devotees of Kitson’s previous theatrical work will not be surprised to learn Church turns out to be a misunderstood loner, pining for friendship but finding it crippling difficult to make social contact. Devotees of Kitson’s stand-up, on the other hand, might see that he himself finds it easier to get to know people though such detached research and wistful conjecture than it is to just talk to them.

Exchanges between Church and Woodrow Arnold, the grumpy editor of the local newspaper’s letters page, are delightful in their mock-animosity, conducted in such Victorian insults as ‘buffoon’, blowhard’ and ‘self-important miserablist’, the last of which could very conceivably be applied to the storyteller himself.

Church’s contact with Ben McCrae, the bullied schoolboy he spied at the bus stop and followed through university and marriage, shows a keen paternal instinct, while other relationships evaporated as soon as they begin. Unresolved is the matter of Isabel, the person to whom he writes more than any other, and who never received that ultimate missive, written the night before his death.

The unravelling of the truth behind the mysterious Mr Church is as beguiling as it is compelling, proving yet another tender monologue from a master storyteller.

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Saw Mr. Kitson last night and he was simply brilliant! My cheeks are still hurting from laughing so much and there's still a little lump in my throat from such a beautifully told story. I'm only sorry that I had to wait so long since the last time I saw him. Hopefully he will not leave it so long before coming to Nottingham again.

Dale, November 2009

I cannot emphasise enough how utterly brilliant and exceptionally wonderfully great this man is. Daniel Kitson is constantly superb from start to finish. Fairly priced tickets and his set ran for roughly two straight hours. No break, no support act, just two hours of perfect Kitson comedy. Rather than seeing a comic that might make you smile or giggle, Kitson literally left the crowd in fits of continuous laughter. I'm not writing this to sell the show more but people were wiping tears from their eyes they were crying so much and for a comedian there cannot be any greater response. People rocked in their seats and struggled to catch their breath the laughs came so quickly. One gift to Kitson's comedy is that it isn't just gag after gag. He leaves the audience with a moral to his story as his shows are based on one big moment in his life and how things have happened to him and how these things affect us all in the real world. In between jokes he'll give poignant little speeches based on emotions and actions and how everything is part of reality. Rather than live life to the full, just enjoy what you want and do what makes you happy (within reason and the law) and if you can have a sit down while doing so, result. If you've never heard of him, go his website or itunes and get his 2004 and 2005 shows as podcasts for free. He too plays small theatres which is a bonus. Large arena shows ruin comedy. The more intimate the venue, the more comfortable the setting, the more local the crowd and the more comfortable the seating. He will never do arenas. If he were ever as big a name as Lee Evans or Bill Bailey (as good they are), be assured he would never play a big show. Kitson keeps himself quiet and as such does not print tour leaflets. You have to sign up to his newsletters, get alerts here or regularly check your local theatre websites for upcoming dates. Forget Christmas DVD sellers and arena sell outs, Daniel Kitson is without any doubt the best stand up on the circuit and leaves everyone else standing, sitting, in the dust etc. He is just too good. Just see him if you can and love it for what it is. A five star, 100% funnyman who isn't afraid to say what he thinks. And what he thinks of is comedy gold.

Sean Prower, November 2009

I realise if those goes up I will have two comments in a row, but this is about a different gig. We saw Daniel in Cardiff last night and its going to be hard to watch any other comedian again. He was funny, warm and philosophical. His show is an all embracing display of comedic brilliance with not one person excluded from its warmth. You can feel a spark in the air that you are watching something and someone special. I can understand Stewart Lee's comments that Kitson comes as close to stand-up perfection as is possible.

James Evans, November 2009

We saw Kitson at the last of the 3 midnight story telling gigs he did in Regents Park Open Air Theatre. It was a bit nippy by 1am in the middle of a park, but it was well worth it. A touching, funny and warm story told by one of the few real storytellers left in our culture. Going to see him do stand-up too in Cardiff november time. Can't wait!

James Evans, September 2009

I saw Daniel Kitson live at Union Chapel, Islington, recently where he demonstrated why he is so superior to the average stand up. You know when you’ve witnessed great comedy, I left this gig inspired by a thoughtful and consistently funny set, unlike the often slick circuit professionals who have perfected impressing stag do drunks. Kitson stands above the contemporaries who lazily shock to get a laugh, or coldy pick apart vulnerable targets. There is no such bad aftertaste when Kitson warmly weaves one of his stories, during which his observations on life are inventively hilarious, accurate and perceptive. I watch a lot of comedy and Kitson’s stimulating set represented a man with an overflow of good ideas, well crafted material and hilarious delivery by a highly likeable multi-faceted character. I could try to recite the highlights which included a routine on driving instructor catchphrases and other material which he admitted was still in construction, but this was all the more funny in his style which flipped from self-deprecating to supremely confident. You really have to see him live though… A legend at work!

Phil Greenwood, May 2009

I had read very many great things about the elusive Mr Kitson, all flattering I might add, and I was genuinely excited to have finally caught up with him. e were not to be disappointed. The show was a super display of Intricate structure, interwoven with a golden thread of story-telling, warmth and humility. Sound glitches and ensuing 'technical banter' (which strangely added to the overall conviviality of the event) aside, we left the Royal Exchange Theatre to a man swathed in feelings of both enchantment and optimism that one day, our paths will cross once more with those of this great modern day Bard. You are a first rate wordsmith Mr Kitson, and we salute you!

Darren Smith, Liverpool, August 2008

Starting to look like the Daniel Kitson Appreciation Society (See my previous comment) Saw the great man again in Brighton on 25th May. Two hours of pure original comic genius. The story that runs through the set really makes you think but you don't stop laughing throughout. A wonderful use of pathos. I doubt if there is a better comic around. Absolutely awesome.

Matt Gander, May 2008

Simply the greatest comedian around. Effortless, peerless. He can also almost play the drums.

Adam Montgomery, September 2007

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