Max Boyce, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury - review
It is testimony to the enduring popularity of Max Boyce that his show at Theatre Severn sold out in just over a week, and the Welsh comedian didn’t disappoint.
Since the 1970s, Boyce has been a regular feature of Welsh international rugby union fixtures on the TV, and would often appear decked out in Welsh colours, carrying an enormous leek.
While there were no vegetables on stage, Boyce did enter the stage waving a large Welsh flag and, unsurprisingly, Boyce’s homeland formed the basis for many of his jokes, with affectionate digs aimed at North Wales.
Opening in familiar style - to the sound of Sosban Fach and a chant of Oggy, Oggy, Oggy - Boyce turned his comedy sights on rugby and the culture surrounding the oval ball game in Wales.
Stories of tours to watch internationals in Paris were mixed with a routine bemoaning the lack of a response to the New Zealand haka that focused on a popular nursery rhyme featuring the fall of a rather rotund ovoid character.
In between the comic stories, Boyce included popular tunes from his days when he performed in folk clubs, with Duw It’s Hard and Hymns and Arias receiving rapturous receptions from the audience. For this reviewer, his version of the traditional Welsh tune, Hiraeth, was a highlight of the show.
And while Boyce’s gags occasionally drifted into areas of scatological smut, this show was packed with jokes that could be appreciated by all ages, regardless of whether you understand his references to Welsh culture.
Even the most rabid English rugby fan would have enjoyed the additional verse in Hymns and Arias, that referenced the television match official howler that denied Wales a try at Twickenham earlier this month.
By Stephen Taylor
