ExpressandStar
By Joe Sweeney
Nov 2, 2005
Joe Pasquale, Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
Back at the Grand by popular demand, squeaky-voiced comedian Joe Pasquale is still proving to be the man of the moment on the back of his celebrity jungle win.
Last night's full house couldn't get enough of the likeable entertainer's mix of daft but original one-liners - which came thick and fast - coupled with the usual ruck of comically fluffed magic tricks and lyrically ludicrous songs.
Some of the material has been done before, but each time Pasquale's expertly timed delivery and constant ad-libbing manages to give it a renewed slant - with hilarious results. And this triumphant return to Wolverhampton proved no exception, with an avalanche of laugh-out-loud moments.
After arriving on stage to a rapturous reception, wearing a large inflatable suit and singing 'Soul Man', the comic gently teased the audience with some of his more playground-style humour before giving over the rest of the first half to talented mind reading magician Marc Paul. Interacting heavily with members of the audience, Paul impressively managed to silence a host of sceptics among them by revealing their addresses, mothers' maiden names, car registration numbers, dates of birth - the works.
With a stage cluttered full of the tools of a magician's trade, Pasquale stepped things up a gear for his main act. It must be said that much of the comic's appeal lies in the fact that he dances a perfectly fine line between childish and adult humour without ever delving into the realms of smut.
Particularly funny highlights included his knife-throwing act and his appallingly off-key rendition of Lionel Richie's 'Easy'.
In between came the obligatory barrage of seemingly spontaneous verbal and visual dotty gags that one could easily imagine a couple of schoolboys conjuring up.
There was no mention of any "Jacobs" last night but the audience couldn't escape a sing-along to 'I've Got A Song That'll Get On Your Nerves'.
For a comic with that rare ability to put on a show which scores this heavily on the belly laughs, Pasquale seemed genuinely pleased at the appreciation he was shown here. No doubt we shall see him again soon.
