Rebus McTaggart
Written and performed by Richard Thomson. Directed by Mat Baynton.
Touring UK venues in 2008, with international availabilty by request.
This
new character comedy written and performed by Richard Thomson introduces
Ecclefechan’s top cop Inspector Rebus McTaggart.
His guided tour reveals the hectic schedule of McTaggart’s crime-fighting mission, and how he deploys his crack techniques on the mean streets of his sleepy Borders village.
This brilliantly observed character is particularly proud of his recent promotion to the dizzy heights of Joint Deputy Temporary Head Community Support Liaison Officer. It’s an important job…
With a wannabe Columbo as its star, the show reveals Thomson’s impressive range as a character comedian, from stand-up style audience interaction as Rebus and a song-and-dance routine in the bearded guise of Evangelos, to the brilliant physical comedy when doing his wordless turn as the police hound.
Having built his reputation through regular appearances in sketch and stand-up shows at the festival and on other stages around the UK in recent years, this solo debut confirms Thomson as an exciting new face in the world of character comedy.
At the Edinburgh festival 2007, a new show – Rebus McTaggart: CrimeWarrior – will premiere, and will then be available for touring.
Edinburgh festivel reviews
Metro - 4 stars
Glaswegian character comedian Richard Thomson gives not one but several standout star turns in this inventive and cheeky one-man show. It's based around the corrupt, kid-hating, lap-dance-loving, no nonsense Inspector Rebus McTaggart, and the audience takes a guided tour around the life of a crime fighter in Ecclefechan.
'Crime is a beautiful word, but an ugly thing,' barks McTaggart. He keeps the streets clean of scum, using his own blend of brutality for the thugs, and silver-tongued charm for the ladies.
It's a tight, punchy script penned and performed by Thomson, whose previous screen credits include the cult hit Garth Marenghi's Dark Place. Never dropping a line or missing a trick, the incredibly quick-witted and adaptable Thomson deserves to become a big hit.
The List - 4 stars
You would be forgiven for thinking, given the name, that Richard Thomson’s first solo Fringe offering was a questionable play on Scotland’s great fictional sleuths. His ‘hilarious’ amalgam of gritty DI stereotypes might have been played out for a UK Gold audience, employing all the subtlety of Robbie Coltrane’s Cracker stubbing out trademark snouts on Hamish Macbeth’s Aberdeen terrier. In reality the Glaswegian comedian combines, if you can forgive the analogy, the tragi-comic narcissism of Steve Coogan with the fumbling charm of Simon Pegg into a wholly new and original rozzer routine, namely Ecclefechan’s newly promoted Rebus McTaggart welcoming what he perceives as his latest recruits to the force.
A natural and charismatic character comic, Thomson employs simple, straight-faced punnery, participation and faultless timing to draw the audience into the Joint Deputy Temporary Head Community Support Liaison Officer’s wickedly ignorant stance on police brutality, road safety and terrorism. Three further farcical but recognisable creations vary the pace and allow Thomson to further flex his comedic prowess, and as his assured presentation of these gleefully absurd situations approaches its zenith, it becomes increasingly apparent that Thomson is sure to soon break free of the beat and into the national psyche.
The Stage
In the fairly limited world of character-based stand-up, Richard Thomson’s creation of this self-satisfied and totally un-PC police detective (in charge of terrorism and lost property) must rank high. In the context of a supposed lecture to police cadets, Thomson’s McTaggart deigns to share his wisdom and expertise while leering lasciviously at every female in the audience and exploiting every opportunity for a quick and crushing ad lib. His audience rapport is instant and strong, as is shown when he sets up the idea of a coffee break and then later goes offstage for a costume change and the sound of pouring gets a laugh.
Thomson alternates the detective’s appearances with other characters, a Greek psychologist with a thing about chickens and a female police artist whose sketches all look the same, but only his sniffer dog, exposing half the front row as harbouring drugs, really works as well as McTaggart. At this performance Thomson gave a particularly impressive demonstration of his quick thinking and comic agility when, for a bit involving an audience member onstage, he happened to pick a very unresponsive patsy and still made the sequence work hilariously.
