Matty Hutson: Don’t Hold Back
Soho Theatre
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Soho Theatre -
I’d only ever seen Matty Hutson at one mixed bill night very late in the evening in Edinburgh, His shows are always ones that I've - for some reason or other - missed entirely. Not anymore. As I climb the stairs of Soho Theatre I can’t wait to see what everyone has told me will be brilliant.
The stage is strewn with instruments, a guitar, microphones, loop pedal, MIDI keyboards the lot. I find myself admiring the copious amounts of tech when Matty walks on to the stage. Matty’s in his 30’s. He’s awkward, silly, affable, bloody talented and looking for friends; he finds that difficult, he tells us. Over the course of sixty minutes, will he leave with a room of new pals?
Don’t Hold Back has a bit of a jerk-around storyline - with not a lot of cohesion between the parts - but this never detracts. Matty is here to make friends. From offering to knit the balaclavas of drill-rap gangs to show his generous side, to a song about how he fears he’ll become a backpacking middle aged man (including a wonderful cameo from comedian Mark Silcox) to some of the best crowd work you’re gonna find (he has a response to quite literally everything and everyone - sorry Rachel from Scotland). By the end of the sixty minutes, you can’t help but want more.
The range of music styles is impressive; drill, drum and bass, parody responses to hit tunes such as Jolene by Dolly Parton and Amy Winehouses’ Valerie; there’s even an alternative to the Jaws soundtrack, it’s chaotic but musically, Hutson is pitch-perfect throughout.
Matty Hutson is someone I’ll keep coming back to. He’s excruciatingly funny. Yes, he’s an incredibly talented musical (and non-musical) comedian, clearly a musician with an abundance of talent but he is so relaxed and assured, with an air of humbleness. He’ll use his dulcet tones to befriend you, wicked lyricism to charm you and he’ll also tell you the meaning of life. What’s not to love?
You can keep up to date with any of Matt’s future gigs on his socials, which can be found at mattyhutson.com or over at @mattyhudson on Instagram.
FIVE STARS
