Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arguably Tim Key's most successful show to date, Masterslut, saw him perform in an in-the-round venue with a bath as a centrepiece.
The Arcola Tent provides him with another 360 degrees of opportunity, this time his household item of choice is a bed.
Despite this apparent recipe for success, lightning doesn't quite strike twice for the storyteller and poet.
With his bed centre stage, the burly, bearded 37-year-old louchely strolls and struts around it, lounges and lolls on it, while recounting tales of thwarted romance and lust. These are punctuated with bursts of poetry that are sometimes brutish and always short, especially by comparison with the faux tenderness of his stories.
With Key's persona a mix of gauche and languid, the show sometimes feels like it could unravel at any moment. It never does. There are damp squibs; some tales trail off and some poems are a little too throwaway for their own good.
Nevertheless, even Key's most fleeting aside can demand attention, with “she sashayed off for a dump” among his most memorable juxtapositions.
“It's riddled with my DNA” Key earlier warns an audience member who has joined him on his bed for some harmless badinage. This 75 minutes, meanwhile, is punctuated with excellence, if not exactly riddled with it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments