Jack Gleadow: Mr Saturday Night

• Tom Bruce-Gardyne
• 15 August 2019

This article is from 2019

credit: Andy Hollingworth

A cheeky homage to a bygone age of light entertainment

The first 20 minutes of Jack Gleadow's show is a carefully choreographed shambles of video, song and dance, featuring some sustained banter with the audience and Barry, his hapless stage technician who keeps screwing things up. It's almost worth coming for the brilliant video alone. Then, after numerous false starts, we finally get going on this zany tribute to the TV giants who ruled Saturday night family entertainment back in the 1970s and 80s.

Bruce Forsyth with all his cheesy catchphrases gets star billing even though 'Brucie' was at his peak before Gleadow was a twinkle in his mum's eye, given that he's now only 25. We learn how he was bitten by the stage bug as a child magician in his hometown of Hull, and hear a clip of a creepy interview with some predatory-sounding presenter on Radio Humberside.

From being a conjuror, he's morphed into the role of cheeky chappie in braces who might have been packing them in Butlin's or at the end-of-the-pier in Blackpool had he been born in a different era. In the final 20 minutes the momentum dips slightly, though he does manage to slip in a great gag about Tinder before the end.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug, 5.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).