I had that Joanna Lumley coming over the Tannoy when I was in the underground the other day, getting me to buy poppies. The career of the fictional actor, played and co-created with Arthur Mathews by Matt Berry , has hit new lows, down even on series one.
The only other work his agent is offering, apart from TFL mind-the-gap voiceovers directed by Clem Fandango, is playing Charles Dickens β¦ on a What the Dickens open-top double decker London bus tour. Berry, a man with the distinctive ability to pelvic-thrust with his larynx, is no stranger to the voiceover himself.
And so deservedly so. Steven Toast is the comedy character of the moment, and Toast of London is the comedy event. Because of the rather charming relationship Toast has with his rather charming flatmate Ed.
Because of the prostitutes-and-celebrities blow-football tournament Ed is entering, with Thumper. Because of the way Toast rolls his eyes and wobbles his cheeks from side to side as he does it, until his balls fizz, and the way Mrs P smokes, nonchalantly and dispassionately throughout. Because of Nick Swivney β possibly Nigerian, certainly homophobic β and his anti-gay open top bus tour which inevitably bumps into Toast on his What the Dickens tour, leading to a bad-tempered megaphone shout-off.
And so on, I could continue. Its bawdiness pushes the limits; it is bold and delightfully bonkers. And it must have been a blast to create; you can imagine Berry and Mathews sitting down together β¦ can we get away with that, is it even funny? Go on then, ha. That joy comes through.
