[F]ollowing a total sellout and very highly-acclaimed run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, where Tom was rated as one of the best reviewed shows there (British Comedy Guide), as well as a sellout UK tour in the Spring and Autumn 2017, TOM ALLEN continues touring the UK from February 2018 with his first debut tour show Absolutely.
Soaked in Tom’s signature waspish snobbery and self-aggrandising wit, Absolutely addresses the elephant in the room that Tom is still living at home with his parents, because he can’t afford not to – in Bromley, Kent: heart of leave voters and Theresa May’s Brexit Britain. He’s always at home in Alan Bennett and Mike Leigh territory as he shares with us his up-close-and-personal experiences of suburbia, especially since the Referendum.
Tom addresses the ‘diffilcult times’ we live in – but were things really better ‘back in the day’, when he was a child and you could fit 15 kids in one car?
Tom has recently found some independence from his parents by passing his driving test, but as insurance is too expensive he’s been added to his mum and dad’s policy for their Ford Fiesta Zetec (1.5 litre engine, 2006, five door, maroon, boot doesn’t close). It’s not glamorous but he has been learning how to deal with road rage and motorways, as well as giving lifts to his mum and dad.
Despite all this, Tom maintains that he’s better than everyone else, and whilst maintaining his delusions of grandeur he still manages to take swipes at people who claim to have their lives so much more together than him – as he relishes the delicious details of status, class and the petty eccentricities of modern life.
Tom Allen’s unique style of sharp, acerbic wit and camp, riotous storytelling has seen him perform all over the UK, Europe, Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand.
The last couple of years have been incredibly busy for Tom, with him starring in BBC1’s Wedding Day Winners, BBC2’s Mock The Week, Live At The Apollo, Extra Slice and Strictly – It Takes Two, ITV’s Royal Variety Perfomance, Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, and Radio 4’s Loose Ends and Just a Minute. Later this year, Tom will be hosting Channel 4’s Bake Off: The Professionals. Besides all this, his weekly podcast Like Minded Friends – co-hosted with Suzi Ruffell – is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of fans.
As an actor he has starred in Radio 4’s Sony Award-winning Bleak Expectations, Comedy Central’s Threesome, BBC’s Sensitive Skin (with Joanna Lumley) and Fear of Fanny (with Mark Gatiss and Julia Davis). Films include Colour Me Kubrick with John Malkovich, Starter for Ten with James McEvoy, and the Stephen Frears film Tamara Drewe.
”Gives the tradition of camp comedy a firmly 21st century twist” – GUARDIAN
- Saturday 8 September Barrow-in-Furness, The Forum 01229 820 000
