Tony Allen

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Attitude

…..I was watching Tony Blair recently on the telly addressing a conference. He walked on beaming and waving and then, while the crowd were still applauding, he 'apparently' recognised someone in the audience, pointed at them and made like he knew them and clearly hadn't seen them for some time. I first saw Clinton do it. I've got my own version of the same thing. It's a ploy. What comes across is 'Hey! Good to see you. Glad you could make it. How's the family? Nice one. Catch up with you laters.' What is really going on is the performer is demolishing the fourth wall and bonding with the room - 'I don't know you, I've never met you before and let's keep it that way. But hey, I'm an opportunist and you are my way of establishing a connection with this audience'. Politicians are learning the skills of the live performer. No big surprise there, until I saw news footage from Serbia and Vuk Drascovic was using the same technique. What next? The Indonesian Generals? 'Hey! Good to see you. How's the family? Do you want to see them again?' “There's a helluva lot here to set the mind racing and get the creative juices flowing.” - Malcolm Hay, Time Out “Tony Allen is the John The Baptist of modern comedy…Illuminating and irritating, exasperating yet exhilarating, this book is partial, opinionated and intensely personal - and that's precisely what makes it so readable.” - The Guardian Guide