The Christmas Thing – Seven Dials Playhouse, Covent Garden

Writers / Directors: Tom Clarkson & Owen Visser

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

“Fun, Festive Frenzy“

3.5 / 5

Capturing the frantic charm of classic 90s TV specials – The Christmas Thing is a completely bonkers show that extracts festive fun out of every moment.

The audience are absolutely integral to the show – being that they are the sole guests and studio audience on the live Christmas TV special, being broadcast to absolutely nobody. Extroverts unite – it’s your time to shine, with a multitude of games, skill showcases and silly side-quests that all require various members of the audience to get involved in. With a large audience, the job of hosts Tom Clarkson and Owen Visser is made a lot easier, with more willing people to pick from, but on the night we visited it was a much smaller pool, but credit to the pair for making all of the participants that went up comfortable and ensuring the introverts of the audience were left well alone!

Aside from the standard premise of the show being a TV recording, there’s also a small sub-plot somewhat, of the ‘Christmas Thing’ aka a present on stage, being filled with festive joy to defeat the Krampus that is out to ruin Christmas for everyone. It’s an odd, surreal inclusion, which at points over complicates what is otherwise a straight-forward comedy show, but the sheer creativity behind it, and the clever way they tie everything together – from the cracker jokes to the multimedia inclusions, is to be commended. The humour is purposefully corny and cheesy – exactly what you’d expect from a homage to old 90s TV shows, funny puntastic segments such as the glove game and the and the Uber Eats vs Deliveroo race examples of them being completely on theme.

Aside from the live entertainment, there is also a multitude of pre-recorded videos that are included at various points of the show. A lot of work has clearly gone into these – from the Netflix parody Thingflix, to Zoom calls with their on location reporter Puppet Steve, they are well-produced and appreciated. Additionally, as part of these varying video segments, there is an incredibly impressive roster of pre-recorded talent that contribute. From Mo Gilligan and Emma Corrin’s TikTok videos, Ed Jones’s Winker Wonderland trailer and Peter Serafinowicz starring as fictional Hollywood legend Frankie Spangles in the Thingflix documentary, these cameos are unexpected but very entertaining. Clarkson and Visser are humorous, energetic and somehow manage to keep the madcap show surprisingly smoothly delivered, in this chaotic Christmas cracker.

Runs until 20th December