Having a funny voice and a creepy face (his description, not mine) does not seem to have gone against him in his chosen profession and he had the audience crying with laughter at his eloquent, often quite dark, material. He uses language beautifully and can deliver some stunning monologues, with a mixture of whimsy and well placed profanity which leaves the audience hysterical. His banter with the crowd was light-hearted, but still effective. He was particularly challenged at this gig with a front row full of blind students, which he handled superbly, but he was rewarded with some comedy gold in the audience by way of a bitter relative of a lottery winner, who had fallen out with them just before their win!
He expressed his exasperation at being lauded as an up and coming stand-up (after 9 years in the job), but as he said, his was not a particularly portable skill set – “What can you do Mr Lawrence?” “Well I can take the p*** out of someone for half an hour and it’d be funny?” “That’s not really what we’re looking for here at Childline, Mr Lawrence…” - however Childline’s loss is the rest of the world’s gain and we left the gig feeling much happier than we had when we entered, so job done and hats off, Mr Lawrence. If he’s coming to a venue near you, go and see him. He will make you laugh.