Review by Steve Bennett

With his compellingly growly voice, distinctively sinister look and perfectly judged performance, Andy Linden should pick up a lot more acting work on the back of this showcase.

But with stories so unremarkable, audience members who aren’t in the business might wonder why they are paying for the privilege of watching him audition for roles.

The former stand-up – who admits his appearance is not so much Brad Pitt as ‘Cess Pitt’ – delivers a masterful performance, evoking characters and atmosphere with his emotive, but always undeniably rough-edged London voice, while a restrained but animated physicality adds to the style.

But for all the skill and effort he puts into their telling, often in a conspiratorial hush, the tales just don’t engage. Sharing a turbulent plane journey with a hard-drinking fellow thespian has more than a touch of the luvvie about it, even if it does come with a working-class accent;while drunkenly asking Van Morrison for an autograph or watching war films with his dad, a former PoW, aren’t made to resonate either. And when he talks about a run-in with a short-tempered Roman Polanksi on the set of Oliver Twist, in which Linden played a chimney-sweep, you can’t help but think ‘I’m sure that’s not the worst thing he’s ever done…’

Only the anecdote about the bawdy Cuban feast he attended has a bit more substance, but it has far too much build-up, proving again that however good an actor is, he can only be as good as the material.

Linden is about to get a lot more exposure, having been cast as Mundungus Fletcher in the forthcoming Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – but he might want to start editing the anecdotes before he hits the chat-show circuit.

Review date: 15 Aug 2010
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett