This is barely advertised, which is fun. It doesn’t appear under Rosenthal’s name in the programme or on the website, the photo of him is barely legible as being him, and it’s only two performances at two different times. It’s not designed to be found, but yet it is sold out. That probably says something, but I don’t know what.
Befitting that is a very low key start. Rosenthal is sat on the stage as the audience walk in, smiling and waving at them, Arctic Monkeys playing over the speakers. It’s without fanfare, as - based on contextual knowledge from the local scene - fits Rosenthal’s seeming desire to start afresh as a comic, which is admirable.
It’s billed as, and very much is, a WIP. The threads of the thing are here, but it’s not necessarily all flowing. And that’s fine! There’s a lot of fun stuff, not least an extended mime of practicing kissing,
There is some stuff - and as ever, I am cautious about writing too much or judging WIPs as if they are finished products - which doesn’t quite work yet, I think. I can see where he is trying to go and what he’s trying to say, but he’s going to find himself in a catch-22 where he needs to hear feedback that he will feel reinforces his point. If he can get through that, there could be a really interesting show at the end of this.
More to the point, though, it’s really nice to see Rosenthal enjoy himself on stage. He talks about not enjoying it in the past, and it feels like he has mostly taken his success and leveraged that towards a working pattern that is better for him. That’s what we like to see.