Daniel Kitson - Keep

NOTE:- Here be spoilers - please do not read if you're planning to see it. Seriously, don't read on, just go and watch it.

I’ve only ever seen Daniel Kitson twice before and both times were as a compere at the Greenwich Comedy Festival, a role at which he excelled. For those of you that aren’t familiar with him, Kitson is a stand-up/storyteller/monologist who keeps clear of TV in favour of live performance. He’s often cited by other comedians as being one of their favourite comedians and, based on the strength of the show I saw last night, I can see why*.

Daniel Kitson - Keep

The premise for the show (which finished its run at the Battersea Arts Centre so I don’t feel like I’m spoiling it now) is that, in a departure from his usual comedy shows, Kitson has catalogued every single item within his house on index cards and will sit for two hours reading them out in order. And that’s it. There was certainly a moment of nervousness from the audience as he sat and read through the first book where it looked like this could be what we were in for. However, a reversed card with some other writing on the back disrupts the flow and the show begins to become something else, allowing Kitson to go off on some beautifully phrased tangents about life, love and property as well beginning to reveal another story going on within the show.

For me, I thought the craftsmanship behind the show was superb. Things that are made to appear like unplanned off-the-cuff remarks prior to the show come back around by the end to tie the narrative threads together. I love this sort of attention to detail that rewards you if you’ve been paying attention. There’s an impressive amount physical logistics that goes into the building of the show through the piecing together of cards scattered throughout the card index cabinet. It was also very very funny. Kitson has a lovely turn of phrase (for example his take on privilege being akin to a paper Christmas paper hat in that after a while you forget it’s there but it’s embarrassingly obvious to everyone else) and his musings on life are never less than entertaining.

Having now seen my first full Daniel Kitson show, this will definitely not be the last. He’s got a dedicated fanbase so tickets tend to sell out but if you can get hold of tickets to see one of his shows, I’d thoroughly recommend it.

* Big thanks to The Brother and The Sister-In-Law for the Christmas prezzie (which they also attended!)