Pam Ayres is the voice of a generation. The generation that loves poems spearing the truth about losing your specs, the first grandchild and coping when the dog dies.
Ayres’ one-woman show at the Assembly Rooms was an early gig in a UK tour with her new book ‘You Made Me Late Again!’ She opened with ‘They Should Have Asked My Husband’ and had us laughing like donkeys from the off.
She is a consummate performer, working poems into an effortless-seeming monologue that takes in a very funny reading from her autobiography and various hilarious impersonations. She could give any stand-up a run for their money with her dotty optician, a teenage biker she was desperate to impress at the village bus stop and the thrusting young person tasked by her publisher with telling her about Twitter.
Amid the belly laughs, though, were some heartbreakers that silenced the room… in a good way. ‘Tippy Tappy Feet’ described missing her dog’s ecstatic greeting after it dies and ‘September Song’ shared how it felt when her kids left home.
Sniffle, gulp.
Ayres nails perfect rhymes for our times as her blend of comedy and pathos reveal an unerring eye for the truth. She knows what we’re all like, from the vanity of contact lenses to the unexpected lure of social media, and offers it up with just the right deadpan delivery.
And it all rhymes.
Which is nice.
Find UK tour 2014 dates at pamayres.com
