Mark Thomas doesn’t normally do Christmas shows, but he does do Christmas, and because it means so much to him he decided to tell all in a Christmas show, writes Michael Holland.
An Extra Plate begins with Mark playing some extraordinary Christmas songs that he has collected from charity shops over the years that included very cool Jazz from a 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas Special, an odd reggae tune that he obviously enjoyed dancing to, and what he deemed the ‘worst Christmas song ever’ – a B side of Paul McCartney’s. While we listened to this odd array of seasonal songs he handed out his homemade ‘Mince Pie Baklava’ to audience members as they entered.
When the show properly started he said we would experience shock and laughter and tearjerking poignancy. He told of the hardships his parents faced in their early Christmases, moving on to when he was a sulky Punk teenager who had no time for any seasonal frivolities, and how the tide turned for him and he grew to love Christmas again. The story of one of his father’s early Christmases is truly heartbreaking.
The Extra Plate title comes from his family always finding a place for those who get invited back from the pub to enjoy dinner and drinks with the Thomas clan, and we learn of the time when it was he himself who was the Extra Plate.
Mark Thomas has a rich vein of comedy gold to mine in his extended family, and tells some great stories of working as a builder with his dad. But he also doesn’t mind admitting to having the ‘worst nan in the world’. He talks of his sister becoming a vicar and his transition into atheism, and how he always goes to her church for Midnight Mass. An Extra Plate is a melange of mirth and misery.
The tales are accompanied by projections, mainly of his parents laughing and showing their love of life and for each other; you get a real sense of Mark’s love for them that works its way into the hearts of those in attendance.
Mark Thomas is truly a man of the people and stands around talking to his audience at the end, so after watching An Extra Plate you leave feeling full of warmth and Christmas cheer and ready to enjoy this special time of year.
Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN until 23rd December. Times: 3pm & 8pm. Admission: Pay What You Can (Suggested price £20).
Booking: www.bac.org.uk
Photo: M. Holland