Rob Beckett: Mouth of The South: Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, 2015
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2019
Rob Beckett: Wallop!: Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, 2021
Southbank Literary Festival: Parenting Hell: The Book: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London, 2022
Rob Beckett kicked off his tour Mouth of The South at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe where I found him so funny, I could not stop laughing at him. I was very surprised that I had not seen him live before. I knew who he was and on stage he was utterly likeable and extremely well balanced. He had a friendly and casual approach which was evident from the start as Beckett happily interacted with and bounced off the audience members. His approach is almost conversational and he easily won the crowd over with his unassuming style. I was most impressed by the way in which Beckett makes the whole act look effortless and untroubled, though clearly a lot of thought and preparation had gone into it with well-structured material which flowed seamlessly from topic to topic. The comedian delivered a very funny and solid performance which was extremely popular with the audience.
Beckett was the special guest at an Always Be Comedy showcase that I saw in January 2019. Beckett was trying out new material for his forthcoming tour Wallop! I was amazed that I had only seen him live once before and his infectious no nonsense approach to telling very amusing stories about becoming a new father was both endearing and hilarious. This very likeable comedian deserves to have a very successful tour and was a pleasure to watch.
In November 2021, I ventured to the New Theatre in Oxford to catch Beckett’s new live tour Wallop!. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, the comic delivered stories about family life, becoming a father and an outstanding routine about the size of his legs. He gace a wonderful appreciation of who he was and where he was coming from that endeared the audience so he could effortlessly chat to them. It was a fantastic show from the popular comedian.
The smash hit podcast Parenting Hell (www.podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rob-beckett-and-josh-widdicombes-parenting-hell/id1510251497) about ludicrousness of being a parent features Josh Widdicombe and Beckett who are both dads. The podcast was turned into a book and in November 2022, I went to the Southbank Literary Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall to see the two of Britain’s most popular comedians in conversation with wonderful comic and parent, Jen Brister. This was a wonderfully funny night with a Q & A session which included a signed copy of the book.
Beckett’s rise to comedy stardom is immense and well deserved.