It’s Wednesday night in Harrogate and Britain’s Got Talent 2018 runner-up Robert White brings his “Tank Top Tour” to the Harrogate Theatre where a healthy crowd, comprising of his growing number of fans along with a few people who are quite possibly here out of curiosity, turn out.
Opening up the show tonight is an experienced comic known only as Windsor. Quick-witted, friendly and slightly risque, the comedian soon has the crowd warming to him as he makes his way around the front rows striking up a rapport with various victims including a teenager, an ex-policeman and a farmer. He may only have twenty-five minutes on stage but Windsor’s mix of stories, banter and cheeky jokes is certainly a great starter course for the night.
After a short interval, the man himself makes his entrance complete with tank-top and, for the next hour and a quarter, puts on a show that is, well, completely bonkers. Mixing up madcap, seemingly improvised, songs with quick adlibbed one-liners with plenty of audience interaction, it’s hard to keep your eyes off White for one second as, quite literally, you have no idea what is coming next. Of course both his Asperger’s and his sexuality play a heavy part in the set but they’re dealt with in such a way that, should you be of a more broadminded nature, you’ll find him truly entertaining to watch.
Showing why he won the hearts of the British public, there are still times during the set when his material doesn’t quite hit the mark but those moments are few and far between. Furthermore, there are times when you look around the audience and see a few stern faces in response to some of White’s more sexually inspired material but, as expected, and, as White points out during the show, there is plenty of material that he wasn’t allowed to get away with on TV. What that means though is that you get to see the comedian in full flow and, as he launches into an extended finale, you realise that, while his Asperger’s might affect many areas of his life, once he is on stage, this is a man who has found his true calling.
You can find a full list of dates and tickets here
