Terry Christian walks to the stage dressed in a papal gown, flicking holy water at people and as he steps on the stage, begins speaking in a half decent Irish accent and telling off colour, irreverent jokes about the catholic church. He looks a tad nervous and as he finishes his opening bit and introduces himself proper, he admits that he was and still is nervous about doing this show in Belfast. I can see why, any show that involves an Englishman coming to our wee island to speak about their issues with the catholic church is a brave man, and in this case a very funny man.
Whilst Julian cope cancels his date in the Black box due to ‘security concerns’ Terry Christian -a TV presenter -is up there in living colour baring his soul in a funny, thought provoking and at times awkwardly honest fashion, whilst unabashedly taking aim at the catholic church that he holds accountable for, at least part of, the way he is. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, Terry himself admits he’s not a comedian, in fact during one anecdote he misses his punchline altogether, but the story itself is so interesting that he’s forgiven for doing so. He’s a complex man, entrenched in catholic guilt and explaining the issues that this brings, the sense of split national identity that being brought up by an Irish family in England can harvest. He tells how his Granny called his brother “that English Bastard” because he was the only sibling not born in Ireland.There’s parts of his stories that we can all relate to and there’s very much the black humour that we in this country thrive on.
I’ve seen funnier comedians and I’ve seen more polished public speakers, but it’s rare to see some-one be so honest in this kind of a setting. It’s like sitting in the bar with a mate you haven’t seen in years and he’s filling you in on what he’s been doing for the last 4 decades or so. You laugh and you cry along with wherever the story goes, but all the times there’s a sense of empathy for the stories being told. The Black Box was really full for this show and I think that , like myself, a lot of people came along not knowing what kind of show Terry would put on. He has no book to sell, or CD to promote, so I think in the end it was just a chance for us to find out a little bit more about Terry Christian and sure what’s wrong with that.
