The Al Pitcher Picture Show, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Oct 10

4:00pm Monday 12th October 2009

By Georgina Harris  *****

Al Pitcher is an ambitious man. Allowing himself only a few hours before the start of each show to come up with the main body of material, he is clearly a comedian who thrives on pressure. As his abundant charm lies mainly in his improvised connections with the audience, the absence of structured gag sequences works in his favour. 

The concept is this: Pitcher and camera hit the streets of the town or city he is performing in that evening to capture the humour that we probably don’t, as locals, always notice ourselves. The subsequent slideshow of Brighton, featuring dirty doodles, ridiculous seating arrangements, bad signage and the man who sells bird whistles in town, worked a treat with Al’s dry observations, securing a steady roll of laughter. 

From the outset, audience interaction was paramount and the comic seemed thrilled and bemused by the gusto with which so many people got involved. His talent lies in making the whole room feel like part of his gang - when someone in the front row got up to use the toilet and Pitcher put on the man’s jacket, everyone waited like joyful conspirators until the victim returned. At the end he even tried to take a group photo, only to be rescued by an audience member with a superior camera when his flash failed to work. 

A natural and thoroughly likeable comedian, even if Al Pitcher had forgotten his projector screen, he still would have had the crowd eating out his hand.