TOMMY DEAN AT THE FACTORY THEATRE

Tommy Dean at the Factory Theatre

Tommy Dean, The Factory Theatre, Fri, 4 May 2012

The media release promised that I would have a night of “gut-bustingly painful fun” if I dared to come to Tommy Dean’s show at the Factory Theatre. As this sounded mildly dangerous, I looked forward to moving outside my comfort zone of Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and venturing out into the far more risky inner West!

As I join the large crowd which has gathered, some 500 in number, I face an unexpected dilemma. A young lovey dovey couple seated in front of me decide to put their heads together in some kind of divine joining of the souls. Good luck to them but they completely block my view of the stage. Do I need to actually see Tommy Dean perform and disturb the couple or should I just listen to the comedian as if it were a blind audition on the Voice?

I make the only decision a reviewer who still believes in the power of love could; I shift my head to the right and block the view of the person behind me! It almost feels like I’m in my own comedy routine but who cares?

And then Tommy Dean comes out to generous applause. Aha, most of the audience knows him already. But what will I think? That’s what’s really important. And then he speaks. Wow! A comic with a deep, booming voice. That’s different. Not one of those whiny ones. He commands respect…even if he is an American!

Tommy “boasts” about his outfit which he’s wearing in honour of Fashion Week. Laughter. “Wrinkles are in” he claims. Self-effacing. He talks about his interviews that day on 2SER and 2GB (at 4.30 am) and gets confirmation from the audience that
no-one heard them. Great, he can laugh at himself.

As Tommy’s show continues, you can’t help liking the guy. His observations on the madness of life sound like humorous judgments from the Big Guy up above. Make no mistake, his wit is sometimes laced with an anger borne one suspects from frustration with dealing with the kind of idiots we all come across every day.

His social commentary covers a wide breadth of personal experiences ranging from IVF to trying to tell the difference between his two twins (I know you can’t have any other number) to the joys of double ovens to the evil empire of Ikea and all its products. All the time the audience is lapping it up with howls of delight.

And once Tommy, who now lives here, takes aim at his gun-toting father and religiously inspired mother who still live back in the States, you know he’s really one of us and you’re grateful.

I’m not sure if my gut was busted with any sense of pain but Tommy is welcome in my country for many years to come just so we can all hear that outstanding voice and the weird and wacky things that come out of his mouth. His parents, I’m not so sure about!

© Tony Laumberg

6th May, 2012

Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews, Tommy Dean, Factory Theatre, Sydney Arts Guide, Tony Laumberg