DVD review by Steve Bennett

At 51, Canadian comic Stewart Francis has been around the circuit on both sides of the Atlantic for decades. But, buoyed by appearances on Mock The Week and supporting Ricky Gervais on tour, only now has he released his first DVD.

And what a treat it is, the best of that sizeable career condensed into 70 joyfully silly minutes, with cunning one-liners packed in tighter than commuters at peak time. But it is no triumph of quantity over quality, as his exquisite wordplay is almost exclusively brilliant. Nor is the wordplay of corny puns – instead he delicately employs tricks of language to turn an idea on its head in a heartbeat.

Seeing him live you can feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of material, wanting to remember every gag to repeat to your mates, but struggling to keep up. But with a DVD you can watch in short spurts so you don’t miss a thing. Even though the show has no more substance or meaning than joke after joke, this is one you’re likely to return to time and again to refresh your memory.

His timing is perfect, and he delivers in a sort of enhanced deadpan, not overselling the jokes, but with an implied wink to the audience that he realises how ridiculous a figure he projects. Occasionally he’ll slip into a silly chipmunk voice, or a cartoonish Scottish brogue to represent his wife/girlfriend while trying to maintain a semblance of faux gravitas which only makes it even more ridiculous.

Francis has spent a lifetime compiling this material – which might cause him problems now all the material is distributed, as he’s never needed to be the most prolific of writers before now. But this one great example of comic craftsmanship after another. He’s long been one of the best-kept secrets on the circuit… but now the secret is out.

Stewart Francis: Tour De Francis
Recorded at: Bloomsbury Theatre, London
Running time: 70mins
Extras: Outtakes (2 mins); Q&A (6 mins)
Released by: 2 Entertain, November 22
Price: £19.99. Click here to buy from Amazon for £12.93

Published: 25 Nov 2010