Andre Vincent – Original Review
Note: This review is from 2002
Looking and sounding a little like Phill Jupitus, Vincent cannot help but invite comparison with his more famous contemporary. Luckily he fares very well.
Vincent seems happiest bouncing off the audience in his cheeky, market trader type way. And very good at it, he is too. Instinctively funny, his good-natured joshing never fails to find laughs, and stands him in good stead when he's on compering duty.
Of course, there's material too. Similarly jocular in tone and commandingly delivered, Vincent's is a bombastic and entertaining set.
He has recently been compelled to add some newer content about the cancer with which he has been diagnosed. Yet he introduces it effortlessly, without dropping the momentum of the fun - well, at least not for more than a beat.
Such material could easily become mawkish, opening the door to some pathos-laden humour. No doubt such a path would be easy to mine for sympathy, giving the performance a veneer of depth.
But for Vincent, it's just another topic for straightforward, and very funny, jokes. It is perhaps more difficult to tackle such a serious topic in a flippant way, rather than using it to provide a serious undercurrent, but Vincent has enough courage in his convictions to make it work.
It all goes to show that, whatever the subject, this talented stand-up will always leave an audience satisfied.
Review date: 1 Mar 2002
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett