To paraphrase Mr Spock, it's poetry Tim, but not as we know it. Tim Key made his mark on the comedy circuit with sketch group Cowards but in this wilfully shambolic solo show he specialises in daft verse in a scruffy suit. If it takes time to tune into Key's wavelength it is just about worth it in the end.
Wandering on, tie askew, flies agape, he delivers poems about, among other things, goats, romantic rejection and David Blunkett. It would be unfair to say that his writing rambles because few pieces run to more than a couple of stanzas. But there is an aimless quality, with some rhymes simply petering out.
Yet there is clearly more to this subtle act than meets the eye. Brandishing an ever-present lager, it would be easy for Key to play the roaring drunk card and harvest obvious laughs. Instead he works the room with understated charm, flinging barbed remarks at soundman Tom here, doing clumsy magic tricks there.
Key has been compared to Spike Milligan and while the lunacy comes across clearly in his debut collection, just published by Zoo Logic, it does not always come across in performance. This is an amiable hour but forced to choose between Key onstage and on the page, I'd choose the latter.
Until 15 December (08700 600100, www.ticketweb.co.uk).
Tim Key: The Slut In The Studio
Arts Theatre
Great Newport Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 7JB
