The last time that I had ventured to Dalston had been a trip to a sweat box, dropping club in the basement of a convenience store. It had been a fun night but not one that I have been tempted to repeat since. So when I was invited to see a comedy show in that very same part of town I honestly didn’t know what to expect.

I had never really seen gentrification in action but as I walked in through the back doors (I took a wrong turn out of the station okay) of the Arcola Theatre bar I had the strong sensation that Toto and I were definitely not in Kansas anymore. Gone were the hard raving, pill-popping Europeans of my last visit. They had all been replaced with an intriguing mix of try hard hipsters and middle aged ‘trendies’. This was not the crowd that I had expected Mark Thomas to be playing to and yet that is exactly what was about to happen.

As I have implied before I unapologetically love Mark Thomas’ work. He is a powerful clown who revels in exploiting loop holes and embarrassing the people in power who deserve to have a spot light shone on their underhand ways.

This show bought back memories of watching The Mark Thomas Comedy Product late night on Chanel 4. Every episode was solid gold, every story held a lesson and if this man ever developed the level of self loathing required for him to actually become a politician I would vote for him in an instant… Regardless of the party he stood for.

In this show Mark expresses his concern over the current state of the NHS and more importantly where it will be when we all need it in our later years. The sections where a a retired GP gleefully explains to our clown everything that could go wrong with him now that he is over 50 are a treat. But the highlight for me will be the scenes in the ER, Mark brilliantly puts you in the surgery and at no point does it feel like a place you actually want to be… in any capacity.

Check-Up is not a traditional stand up show, it’s a genuine work of theatre that illustrates real life scenarios faced by our medical professionals every day. The scenes are both tragedy and comedy, they show a sad truth of our current national health service in a way that is both memorable and entertaining.

Mark faced a crowd tonight that would most probably vote another way to him in almost every election and yet the conviction in his words quickly won over the room. If –as Reginald D Hunter has often suggested– they do ever replace comedy clubs with interesting clubs then this clown should have a residents slot.

This will not be the funniest show that you have ever seen, nor will it be the greatest theatre experience of your life and yet it is still undeniably worth your attention, your time and your money.

Book in for your check-up today, you will not be disappointed.

Clown Stars: * * * * *

 @Arcola Theatre, London