Phil Nichol:
"Things I Like, I Lick"

directed by David Bourn

*Perrier nominated 2002*

Sunday 20th October 2002
...as part of The Perrier Pick of the Fringe Season ...

Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, London

Adam Hills: Happy Feet
and
Phil Nichol's Things I Like I Lick

Box Office: 020 7494 5558
Tickets: £19.50, £17.50, £15.00, £12.50, £10.00, £7.50, £5.00
plus £1.50 booking fee

Phil and his show ...

Reviews ... from the Edinburgh Fringe 2002

The List, 8 August 2002 (4 star review)
"Those of you with a nervous disposition should avoid this show! To anyone with a sense of humour who appreciates yelling, invasion of personal space and-yes, goddamnit!- being licked, "Things I like, I Lick" is a great, glorious mess and you'd be a damn fool to miss it.. . .There are pithy songs and outrageous anecdotes aplenty..."

Edinburgh Evening News, 15 August 2002 (5 star review)
PHIL NICHOL has had a terrible year - he has been arrested and his girlfriend has broken up with him. As vividly illustrated by the photos hung up on the wall, his nose was broken by a stranger on the London Underground.
Understandably Nichol was feeling particularly low. His friend suggested he make a list of things he likes. That list forms the basis of the show and it turns out to be a great celebration.

Out of the blue, he breaks into song, the most striking of which is the one he has written for a friend of his who suffers from depression. This documents everything that is horrible in the world - written, apparently, with the intention to drive his friend over the edge.
Bringing the audience down to such a low point is a dangerous thing to do, but Nichol pulls it off terrifically - he seems to add it in to the show just for the challenge.

With the Fringe becoming increasingly more like a month-long audition for television executives, it is wonderful to find a show performed with such enthusiasm and dedication to the art of pure entertainment.

Chortle, 11 August 2002 (4 star review)
It's rare these days to experience a genuinely exciting stand-up show, a show with a sense of danger and expectation in the presence of a truly unpredictable comedian. Phil Nichol is one of those comics.
This sense of the unexpected is brought to a head in the surprise ending. Phil has invited a performance artist to devise a different way to close the show each night, keeping him completely in the dark - an inspired idea that has already led to some bizarre scenes
. Here's a man whose hacked off with the world and isn't shy about expressing it with so much energy he must be breaking at least two laws of thermodynamics. Yet even this tempestuous fury subsides, thanks to the reasons to be cheerful that Nichol listed during his enforced hospital stay - the Things I Like which help bring the show to an upbeat conclusion. But not before we've had some belting songs, dollops of tasteless fun and a hefty dose of gloriously nihilistic attitude.
Nichol's definitely going on my list of Things I Like.

Three Weeks, published week 3 (4 star review)
Comedy on speed, is perhaps the best way to describe Phil Nichol’s performance; like a child high on orange juice, he will react when provoked and so hecklers be warned, if you ask, you will get. His material is divided into short sharp fairly sick jokes, and one big story which leads him to the theme of the show, his list of things he likes (he licks). He and his random but adorable accompanist have a whole song about it and what a song it is when he gets it right. Nichol is a great performer and his show is pure madness, not least because the man seems to know no bounds, his surprise ending devised by the lovely Shannon (who he likes), is testimony to that. If high energy and a bit of lunacy is your bag, you will like Phil Nichol, perhaps even enough to lick him.

Phil Nichol, July 2002
"I may not know much, but I know what I lick"

Edinburgh Fringe 2002 ... dates ...