by **** (out of 5)
Trained in clowning at the École Philippe Gaulier, Tom Walker won Best Newcomer in Melbourne in 2016, received a best show nomination the following year, and filmed his 2019 special Very Very as an Amazon Original playing with mime and sound effects. And yet, this might be Walker’s most foolish hour.
Surveying the audience for anyone who may not have seen him before, Walker surmises if you’re here for the first time: “Your friends think you’re autistic.” He’s not wrong about his target demographic, especially for this show, which focuses our attention on something he has obsessively collected in recent years. It’s, just. Well, the thing he has passionately collected? It’s the online forums for pathetic perverts who don’t seem to be hurting anyone in real life. If nothing else, this show does demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) Walker really does have “true crime face,” and 2) there’s finally a real-life example of why anyone might have found value in NFTs in the first place. Because what Walker has done here is take an essentially online-only community and turned it into a priceless printed collectible for himself to call his own. Even if by doing so, Walker might’ve inadvertently given you the idea that he also has pathetic perverted tendencies? Regardless of the often sordid subject matter, Walker keeps things light and bouncy, aided by an upbeat musical score. And seeing some of the other comedians in the audience wanting to catch Walker in action is enough of a testimonial for this comedian who can boast he was one of the first and last “International New Faces” at Montreal’s Just For Laughs. Walker is an act to keep your eyes on. But not in a suspicious way. That’s just his true crime face. He’s truly harmless. Right?!?
