A deeply engaging exploration into regret by a master storyteller

Ivo Graham is a household name when it comes to stand-up comedy, a staple on all our favourites including, Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central, QI, Sweat the Small Stuff,  Richard Osman’s House of Games, Have I Got News For You and Taskmaster. 

The sheer volume and history of his stand-up work makes this pivot to a theatre show curious and revealing. Graham is desperate to make it clear that there are NO JOKES, to his audience and flyers. No jokes, he says, but that doesn’t mean the narrative isn’t peppered with laughter. Laughter from the truth of his story, and honesty. 

Graham takes us on a journey exploring regret, remuneration and holding on. Holding on to tickets, to school reports, to receipts, the poignancy of moments bouncing out of his immaculate storytelling. 

He plays with the form, negotiating seamlessly from direct address to almost spoken word, often with a soundtrack, one that he gives us a list for when we exit. 

The stage is sparse, just a table with objects, a cork board with moments from his life upon it, and in the corner a tiger onesie that I hoped wouldn’t be awful when I walked in. The tiger onesie is possibly where we see Graham at his most animated, speaking with joy about his moments with his daughter, playing the tiger who came to tea. But even then regret creeps into his vision. It reminds me of the moment in Inside Out where Joy realises that Sadness is important and can affect those core memories, only Graham demonstrates it.

It’s clear that he’s still finding his feet, with both the words and the structure, occasionally stumbles and confusion seep in, but it actually makes him more engaging. An inability to put on his marathon vest was a signifier to the nerves. 

Graham has crafted a beautiful piece of theatre, but there is an element to it which feels a little too raw, the stand up nature of the storytelling but without the laughs brings up the uncomfortable feeling that we’re seeing too much into the soul of a stranger’s real life, which has real consequences. 

Maybe that’s the intention, the uncomfortability of inviting the audience to feel and see his regret. 

Ultimately Graham is a master storyteller, magnetic in the way he gently holds space, and that’s the reason I’d go see this show again.