Simon Ward reviews The Christmas Thing at the Seven Dials Playhouse

This is an utterly gleeful slice of Christmas slapstick fun, irresistibly written, directed and hosted by double act Tom Clarkson and Owen Visser. Clarkson is the front man, holding the microphone and ringleading the action; Visser is pressing the buttons to keep the ingenious technology that is woven throughout running perfectly to cue. Like the classic children’s television of the eighties – Tiswas, Rod Hull and Emu – there is always a sense of barely controlled chaos. The spirit is absolute anarchy, the reality is split-second precision timing. A masterclass in mayhem.

The setup is the standard cheesy Christmas TV special staple – the host’s front door, through which will walk the special guests. In this case, however, the special guests are us, that’s right, audience participation is not only part of the show, there would be no show at all without it. In theory you can decline, in practice it’s all but impossible. There is an online form to fill in as you take your seats – be aware that whatever you write as ‘your party trick’ will be shared with all your new friends before the night is out.

No Xmas-themed TV show is left unsatirised – Bowie and Bing are here, as are Die Hard and Love Actually. And, of course, the blazing fireplace. There is a one-line takedown of It’s A Wonderful Life that is so on the money it is criminal. I will never be able to watch it in the same way again. Every Christmas cliché is re-imagined – they make it funny but they also re-inject the true spirit of Christmas while they are about it. Because this is not a cynical, Scrooge-like attack on the idea of Christmas. It doesn’t shy away, for example, from multiple groan-inducing puns, which still somehow manage to raise a laugh. But it does point out and peel away the absurdities and leaves us with a warm feeling of bonhomie. A lot of that comes from the aforementioned audience participation – it’s a fun show in December, people know what they are letting themselves in for, and they throw themselves into the zaniness with gusto.

As part of the technical wizardry there is a large video screen, as it were the TV in Clarkson’s house, on which we get to browse Thingflix (geddit?) and receive occasional updates from co-star Steve the Puppet. It also allows us to see video footage as Clarkson and Visser continue the show from outside the theatre – great fun, particularly when they setup what is apparently a real live race between Deliveroo and Uber Eats to see who can despatch their packages first. A special mention should also go to Peter Serafinowicz who is often seen on screen as a kind of amalgam of light entertainment hosts of yesteryear, one who may just be harbouring one or two demons underneath his ultra-suave veneer. Even the most Scrooge-like audience member will be won over by the warmth, wit and charm of Clarkson and Visser, and their homage to the nugget of goodness underneath the gooey dross of the festive season.

The Christmas Thing is running at the Seven Dials Playhouse until Saturday 20th December