Review by Steve Bennett

There's no getting away from it, Stenhouse's act simply feels dog tired - another downbeat stand-up talking about how he's such a loser in relationships.

Which is a bit of a shame, because he's written more than his fair share of well-crafted gags on the subject.

Yet the fact this road is so well-travelled, combined with Stenhouse's minimal on-stage charisma, makes the whole routine seem stale and unimaginative.

He does himself no favours, either, with a couple of jokes well past their tell-by date. Remember the 1993 film Indecent Proposal? Stenhouse does - and is still doing gags about it.

Valiant efforts to move away from the Men Are From Mars type of subject falter, too, as he seems unable to produce the decent punchlines that punctuate the more familiar topics.

Somewhere there's quality comedy struggling to get out. His best lines are little gems, wasted in such a pedestrian act.

But the audience's overfamiliarity with the genre, combined with Stenhouse's inability to forcibly grab their attention, mean there's little to get excited about here.

Review date: 1 Jul 2002
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett