Audiences unfamiliar with Daran “Jonno” Johnson will be blown away. At 38, he says, this is his first full stand-up show, undertaken as exposure therapy for nervousness that has resulted in spells of collapsing. He last performed stand-up at 19, and nods at successes of “more famous friends” while acknowledging a recent career success (one that “hasn’t really solved anything”).
For the uninitiated: That career bump? He’s head writer at SNL UK. And the last 19 years have hardly been empty of comedy success, with Jonno forming one-third of legendary Fringe sketch group Sheeps.
So if Jonno’s stand-up debut is excellent, that should be no great surprise. And it is, but the extent to which it’s a departure for the man with the country’s biggest job in sketch comedy is perhaps an overstatement. This is a sketch show in disguise. There are songs that unfold like sketches (the opener, about a very strange Christmas party, is a highlight). There is audience interaction, carefully scripted as a sketch. There’s a rap that devolves into a sketch.
Throughout, Jonno’s skill as a misdirector and ironist are in full evidence. But there’s candour too, as he peeks out for revelations of avoidant behaviour, fear of judgment, and relationship problems. Is Here Comes Mr Funny good? Yes. Is it stand-up? Kinda.
Jonno: Here Comes Mr Funny, Monkey Barrel Comedy, until 29 Aug, 7.10pm