Matt Hollins – Original Review
Note: This review is from 2008
Review by Steve Bennett
This dour former biscuit packer carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’s a loser with the ladies, stuck in a monotonous desk job and generally unenthusiastic about life itself.From this terminally mundane existence in thrill-starved Leicester, Matt Hollins concocts a series of slightly strange, slightly surreal anecdotes on such strikingly original topics as Liam Gallagher’s factory-floor past, the ritual of the office cake or a ratings system for sexual ability.
These are all delivered, suitably enough, in a monotone deadpan – yet although the pace is slow, his quiet confidence is more than enough to hold the audience’s undivided attention.
Hollins is still relatively new, and there are telltale signs. The difficult trick of being both aloof and yet human still eludes him, and the set could do with a few more chuckles as the stories inch their way through their sometimes convoluted set-ups.
But while he’s not yet the finished article, his strongly defined persona and the fact he is so clearly able to think outside the box - without being weird for weird’s sake - suggests plenty of promise.
Review date: 2 Jul 2008
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
