Billy Walker has just finished a run of his show, Joan Collins Blocked Me On Twitter, at Edinburgh Fringe, and although that version of the show wasn’t recorded, I got to see a preview he did back in the USA.
Walker is a Brit living in Los Angeles. In his show he assumes the persona of one Theodore Emory Jones, known informally as Thor, who is very much the stereotypical luvvie actor.
In a series of sketches, the very personable Walker demonstrates Thor’s auditions, calls, jobs, and ambition. It’s a multimedia piece using a screen; it also includes a member of the audience recruited to take part in a bizarre scene of forced festivity.
Thor is a deeply eccentric character; not without talent ir prospects but with a side order of the bitch (I guess this is where Dame Joan comes in) and a certain fixation on minor irritations.
There’s ample chance for Walker to show off his comic and musical skills, and a latecomer is briskly escorted to her seat without breaking character.
Professional references are very much geared to the American market, with celebrities, stores and delivery companies all more understandable to that market. These were switched for Edinburgh to more local versions.
In Joan Collins Blocked Me On Twitter, Walker offers a sense of the absurd and a certain amount of sentimentality through the unseen character of Thor’s nanny.
With a chatty, irreverent and mischievous style, this show is easy to like and captures the word of the over-committed performer and the theatre kid who has an opinion on every big show.
Don’t look for a deep plot here, but just enjoy a professionally designed and produced show with a lot of heart.
Joan Collins Blocked Me On Twitter has finished its Edinburgh Fringe run, but you can see Billy Walker next in Happy Ending at Waterloo East Theatre (details here).
3.5 stars.
Many thanks to Billy for sharing a recording of the show with me.