After being hospitalised by an ambitious portion of cheesy chips, John Tothill reflects on his own excesses and those of others, concluding that gluttony is a selfless act, a form of self-sacrifice at the altar of the all-you-can-eat buffet.
Beginning with infamous Victorian shellfish dine-and-dasher Edward Dando, This Must Be Heaven asks: in a world of unprecedented greed, where has our love of gluttony gone? Although, the set never lingers on a single idea for too long, as Tothill gets sidetracked by a nautical nightmare – a cruise ship full of elderly passengers who hate him. All of these seemingly disconnected ideas are slowly drawn together through an interrogation of the bounty of the modern world and when one should, or should not, take full advantage of it.
A self-identified reformed big-talker, Tothill is constantly dipping in and out of conversations with the crowd with his camp erratic enthusiasm, able to segue between stories and conversation with ease. Tothill weaves multiple anecdotes together, jumping from cruise ship calamities to communist crab museums, always knowing when to pick up a new thread and when to return to a cliffhanger. This Must Be Heaven is an hour of high energy, tightly written self-indulgent whimsy.
John Tothill: This Must Be Heaven, Pleasance Courtyard, until 24 Aug (not 12), 9pm