The first half of Jenny Eclair's show isn't actually Jenny Eclair, but rather Edinburgh stand-up regular, Rob Deering. A self-confessed Chief Wiggum look-a-like, he uses his impressive musical talents to great effect by creating live mixes on stage - recording his own backing track on a loop whist he joins in with himself on the next bar. It's very clever stuff, and interspersed with gags told in a charmingly infectious manner that makes it difficult not to like.

He requests audience musical suggestions, and it seems it's impossible to think of a song he doesn't know. He lays down strata of comic material, which he then expertly mines later on in his set. He ends with an absurd, but intensely funny routine about professional singers plying their trade with bread in their mouths.

After an interval of about 15 minutes, the remaining hour is the main event. Jenny Eclair herself - dressed in a shiny gold jacket and sporting a birds-nest 'do' of her trademark blonde locks.

Her props consist of a chaise longue covered in hot pink and a back-projection screen - which displays a suggestive looking éclair throughout. These items are bejeweled with oversized trinkets, painting a picture of a burlesque Madame who has reached a 'certain age' and wants the comforts of kitsch around her. Jenny Eclair appears to have morphed into Lily Savage from Camberwell.

The jokes are decidedly blue, dealing - not unsurprisingly - with the problems of getting older. She claims she's growing into a cross between Marjorie Dawes and Sue Pollard - the voice of tax credits and the face of Senokot. She's at a loss to understand where the years went. 'One minute you're giving boys blow-jobs down back alleys, the next you don't like driving at night'

She deals with subjects like farting, wanking and sex, or rather, the lack of it. She may be the grand old Dame of the British comedy establishment, but her jokes have lost none of their edge.

Jenny Eclair covers a lot of ground, both in her material and the literal space on the stage - bouncing around like a woman half her age with limitless energy. Maybe it's because she has given up smoking - which she says has the benefit that her clothes don't stink of smoke anymore, but then the snacking means they don't fit either.

Her jokes aren't one-liners, but rather anecdotes from her life. Which is just as well, since she's an expert storyteller. She talks about her mother, her daughter and her co-stars from her recent Grumpy Old Women tour, which she claims resulted in them not being allowed in a lift with Take That without a muzzle.

If there is a minor criticism, it is that at times her material seems a little over-rehearsed. Whilst Rob Deering's set felt spontaneous, Jenny Eclair's occasionally felt overtly scripted. Not a major problem, and a solid evening of comedy from two great acts nonetheless.

Credits: Written and performed by - Rob Deering, Jenny Eclair. www.jennyeclair.com

END

(c) Pete Shaw 2007

reviewed Monday 8 October 07 / Hexagon Theatre Reading

Fringe Report's Reading Comedy Festival 07 coverage is organised and edited by Gill Smith.

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008