Tom Hodge isn’t a comedian, he doesn’t do stand-up, and his interaction with the crowd and the presentation of his materials will never grace the Perrier. Nevertheless, Confessions of a Jingle Writer is one of the best quirky shows around this year.

Hodge is, as the title suggests, is a jingle writer - those catchy tunes and beats that advertisers hope will get their product to stick in your mind. His world is one of deadlines measured in minutes, with instructions to write jingles that are “exactly like John Lennon’s Imagine… but different.” Or perhaps a campaign based around a window cleaner playing classical music with a squeegee and a window. And with material like that, is it any wonder that there’s more than enough material to fill an hour in the “Pleasance Beside” venue?

How many different musical styles can you play Three Blind Mice in? Hodge covers an entire gamut of emotion that can be played, without drawing attention to his musical skills on the piano - which are exceptional. Coupled with a gentle mocking delivery that puts you more in mind of a Royal Institute Christmas Lecture than the comedy venue he is in Hodge brings us into his world, entertains us for an hour, and leaves you both smiling at his show and appreciative of a job that most people would never look twice at.

Who: Confessions of a Jingle Writer
Where: Pleasance Beside.
When: 1600-1700 11th-29 (not 17th) August.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 11th, 2005 at 2:29 am and is filed under Stand Up Reviews 2005. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.