Following a 20-night, sell-out London run and a sell-out UK tour, Tom Allen (star of Bake Off: The Professionals and Bake Off: Extra Slice) brings his critically-acclaimed show Absolutely back to London for one night only – at his spiritual home The London Palladium. This special night takes place on Friday 23rd November, and will be filmed.
In its 100-year-plus history, the world-famous venue has hosted some of the greatest, most memorable performances and performers – and a litany of immortal stars have graced its stage. Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Forsyth, Tommy Trinder, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Hope, Jimmy Tarbuck… the list goes on and on. It’s no small honour, then, for Tom Allen to be performing at such a place – and he’ll certainly be in fine form when the time comes!
Soaked in Tom’s signature waspish snobbery and self-aggrandising wit, Absolutely addresses the elephant in the room that Tom is still living at home with his parents, because he can’t afford not to – in Bromley, Kent: heart of leave voters and Theresa May’s Brexit Britain. He’s always at home in Alan Bennett and Mike Leigh territory as he shares with us his up-close-and-personal experiences of suburbia, especially since the Referendum.
Tom addresses the ‘difficult times’ we live in – but were things really better ‘back in the day’, when he was a child and you could fit 15 kids in one car?
He has recently found some independence from his parents by passing his driving test, but as insurance is too expensive he’s been added to his mum and dad’s policy for their Ford Fiesta Zetec (1.5 litre engine, 2006, five doors, maroon, boot doesn’t close). It’s not glamorous but he has been learning how to deal with road rage and motorways, as well as giving lifts to his mum and dad.
Despite all this, Tom maintains that he’s better than everyone else, and whilst maintaining his delusions of grandeur he still manages to take swipes at people who claim to have their lives so much more together than him – as he relishes the delicious details of status, class and the petty eccentricities of modern life.
Tom Allen’s unique style of sharp, acerbic wit and camp, riotous storytelling has seen him perform all over the UK, Europe, Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand.
