There is a distinguished, if niche, tradition of shows that pursue a comedian’s nerdy sporting enthusiasms. Kieran Hodgson’s unforgettable cycling number, Lance, pedals to mind. In his show Javelin, Australian comedian Tom Walker imagines that he spent 12 years as a professional spear-thrower. It recounts this hypothetical career, and Walker’s deep respect for all-time javelin champ Jan Železný, in fits and starts, interspersed with mime sketches and standup chat on different subjects entirely.
From a brilliant tongue-in-cheek intro video onwards, there is lots to enjoy about the show, even if the javelin conceit does not soar. The performance I saw was not greatly helped by Walker’s climactic outburst about his not-entirely-positive Edinburgh fringe experience – which London audiences will presumably be spared on the current Soho theatre run.
The set’s highlight finds the Gaulier graduate bringing the phrase “bull in a china shop” to life in three mimed sections. The strand is subject to diminishing returns, but its first chapter is lovely, inverting the cliche with delicacy and sweetness – for a while, at least. Elsewhere, Walker has got a DIY blackout device for us all to play with, while other sketches conjure a claustrophobic mime artist and the man who manufactured Jesus’s crown of thorns.
For my money, the javelin material that forms the show’s backbone is – forgive me – a bit throwaway. Walker works up a vendetta against discus throwers, and posits a variety of comical metrics (how many erect penises?) to measure Železný’s record-breaking throw. But the wackiness feels a little hollow – or, as Walker himself concludes, “It doesn’t mean anything. Nothing means anything.” Well, quite – but there’s some fun to be had along the way.
• At Soho theatre, London, until 10 September.
