Tom Skelton
Our very long walk down from the top of the cable car through Wellington's beautiful botanic garden eventually took us back to central Wellington via its political hub and the city's CBD.
As our daughter's fiancé's show had been a sell out, we were advised to go to Bats Theatre and join others who would be there on stand by in the hope of last minute spots becoming available.
This could for a variety of different reasons: cancellations, no show, late arrivals etc
It appeared increasingly likely that this was going to be the only way we may be able to see his show as the two extra performances which had been slotted in that week had already sold out.
I should explain that our future son-in-law is a rather unusual comedian in that he is registered blind so apart from the fact that he is extremely funny and his excellent reviews entice lots of 'punters' to his shows, he also attracts a large number of people with disabilities especially, of course, people who are blind or partially sighted.
On the evening we were there an entire family from Auckland with a blind father and son had flown to Wellington that day just to see his show.
Commenting on and giving personal opinions on a family member's talent is not easy but as we embarked on our epic journey to Australia and New Zealand primarily because our future son-in-law was touring the various comedy festivals around that continent, I feel that we do need to acknowledge his very unique comedic talent.
It is for this reason that this section of the blog will be dedicated to him but rather than review him myself, I will refer to reviews written by others and also include a write up from Tom himself.
The latter is a very good way to start.
The following is an article Tom wrote for Matt Innes for Scenestr when he was performing at Perth's Fringe World 2020:
In the article Tom writes about his show and the experiences that led him to that point in his life.
https://scenestr.com.au/comedy/tom-skelton-s-blind-ambition-in-2020-visions-what-if-i-hadn-t-gone-blind-20200124?fbclid=IwAR1lqkkMLLytqSOVKV_lkxo2Vo7Qod8Czg1q0w0BgSfsYSX7VZuTHOqW91E
Tom Skelton's Blind Ambition In 2020 Visions (What If I Hadn't Gone Blind?)
Written by Matt Innes Friday, 24 January 2020
UK comedian Tom Skelton reflects on the regrets, what-ifs and realities of life as a VIP (visually impaired person) in his show '2020 Visions (What If I Hadn't Gone Blind?)'.
"It's ten years since I lost most of my sight due to a genetic condition that came on suddenly while at the Edinburgh Fringe, and this show is about the past decade of being blind, while also imagining the sort of legend I could have been if I had not lost my sight,” Tom explains.
In the show, Tom sees his imagined, sighted self as a world historical figure shaping events, but would 2020's Tom swap places with the fantasy of Tom with 20:20 vision?
“My sighted superhero-esque alter ego's exploits and his impact upon the world should certainly surprise the audience, and I also hope to both surprise, illuminate and challenge audience perceptions about the realities of life as a visually impaired person,” he explains.
A favourite at Perth's Fringe World in 2019, Tom hasn't even been home yet, spending the past year on a working holiday and enjoying as much of Australia as he can.
This will be Tom's fifth Fringe tour.
Tom is also a founding member of UK improv superstars Racing Minds, who are having a break this year.
He says that '2020 Visions' has something for all audiences. “I think both sighted and visually impaired audiences alike will enjoy my show; sometimes for the same reasons, and sometimes for different reasons, but the show is inclusive of everyone".
Tom Skelton at Fringe World Perth
Tom Skelton - photo courtesy of Image © Hannah Madsen (Facebook) for scenestr.com.au
Image courtesy of https://scenestr.com.au/comedy/tom-skelton-s-blind-ambition-in-2020-visions-what-if-i-hadn-t-gone-blind-20200124?fbclid=IwAR1lqkkMLLytqSOVKV_lkxo2Vo7Qod8Czg1q0w0BgSfsYSX7VZuTHOqW91E
This next entry is a review of Tom Skelton also for Scenestr @ Fringe World Perth 2020
by Pepper Jane
When Tom Skelton was losing his sight, someone actually told him he might find it easier to get to sleep at night.
Things doctors say, eh?!
'2020 Visions (What If I Hadn’t Gone Blind?)’ is an utterly endearing performance by a man inviting us into his vulnerability.
It is a delight to behold.
In between heckling himself, (how very Aussie for a British ex-pat) Tom shares with us his worries and joys: the iCloud, the month he had between his diagnosis and having to tell his parents who gave him the genes that incurred it, and learning how to be independent one cup of coffee at a time.
Tom tells candidly how blindness is often compared with stupidity or clumsiness, but it’s actually about capable strategies. “I am involved in this conspiracy too,” he says. “I want to be ‘a normal’.”
We giggle with him but the heart strings are really being pulled here, and our own inadequacies challenged.
Consider what happens when someone doesn’t ‘look’ like a blind person, "without the usual accoutrements of a dog, cane or a piano" (Tom's words), and they have to announce it – or decide whether to.
Would we give any people concessions of gentleness if they didn’t disclose? “Sometimes it feels safer with my eyes closed.”
This Luddite-at-heart (he only got a smart phone last year) jests at the inadequacy of Tinder, and how amusing it would be for everybody if the app had audio descriptions.
Imagine those photos explained out loud!
It’s delightful to join with Tom in the joy of discovering a merger of Irish and Italian flavours that is his beautiful girlfriend (and sound tech!) Ellie, who made the move with him to Australia from the UK.
Tom concedes that what he’s actually got now, in 2020, he probably wouldn’t swap for the vision he had ten years ago.
This next review by Margaret Austin was published in The Theatre Review for his performance at the 2020 Wellington fringe;
I’m not sure I can top the praise already lavished on this show’s performer.
“Deliciously talented” (The Guardian)
UK storyteller Tom Skelton is welcoming his audience as they enter Bats studio.
It’s a full house and Skelton – slight and tousle haired – emits a youthful eagerness.
Skelton is so relaxed and easy in the space that some around me wonder if he really is blind.
The production page for this show reveals:
“Tom developed Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (a genetic eye condition that runs in his family) ten years ago, leaving him with 5% vision, and first noticed some loss of sight at the Edinburgh Fringe, when fellow performers onstage became blurry, and he started to struggle to read the information on tickets.
His sight quickly deteriorated and he was diagnosed weeks later at the end of 2009.”
Skelton’s opening is done with a deftness of delivery and a confidence in his reception that would make fellow storytellers envious.
I remind myself that this kind of effortlessness is the outcome of meticulous scripting, timing and rehearsal.
We are warned we will get jokes about blindness and that it’s OK to laugh.
Skelton’s material, covering the last decade and including news flashes from the UK, the USA and NZ, consists of life experiences and ‘what if’ fantasies.
The show’s humour and sometimes pathos emerges from the contrast.
Amongst other delightful anecdotes, we learn the giveaway to blindness consists in how you make a cup of coffee, the problems involved with using payWave, and what Boris Johnson calls a condom.
(Has he just heard that Johnson’s girlfriend is pregnant?!)
And of course we’re all wondering about his love life.
This topic too is subject to self-deprecation and wry reflection.
But there is hope – if only Tinder ... [spoiler averted].
The technical aspects of the show are well handled.
There’s pop music appropriate to the times – oh and Skelton can dance!
2020 Visions offers a dose of light heartedness most of us welcome.
That it’s delivered in a British accent complete with decent diction and projection is an additional pleasure for me.
Even if you can’t – see it!
Perth Fringe Weekly Winner
Tom Skelton after a half marathon run
Tom Skelton
Tom Skeleton at the Wellington Fringe
Tom Skelton at Bats Theatre, Wellington
Knowing Tom as I do, there is no doubt that all these reviews sum up both his character and comedic talent extremely well but if I had to pick one favourite (not an easy thing to do incidentally), it would be Mark Wickett's review of Tom Skelton (What if I hadn’t gone blind?) Adelaide Fringe 2020.
That year his show was on at the Boardroom at The Griffins Hotel, Adelaide. 7-14 March.
Ten years on from losing his sight British comedian Tom Skelton looks back at the last ten years and indulges us in his ‘what if?’ moments, starting his show exactly at twenty past eight – 20:20.
He takes us on his journey from the first medical specialist’s appointment where he was told he would soon have only 5% vision, through each year of the 2010s, introduced by music and audio from that year.
Skelton tells us about the realities of his challenges in working out which is the men’s toilet and how to make a cup of coffee without spillage, but also his alternative realities: where he’s a spy sent to Russia, an Olympic gold medallist and a saviour of climate change.
He tackles Brexit, PayWave and Tinder with meticulous detail and the clearest diction.
Skelton’s English accent is just right for his self-deprecation and endless optimism, even when he’s having a terrible time.
Skelton is a brilliant storyteller, inhabiting the other characters in his stories as much as his own persona-and he is hugely funny with it.
He’s inventive with his use (and re-use) of minimal props and isn’t afraid to interact with his audience, involving them to act his part in a scenario and reacting with his sharp humour to us laughing.
As much as he improvises with his material – there’s a perfect inclusion of the noisy Fringe event adjacent to his – Skelton has a cleverly constructed narrative here that not only makes us laugh the entire time, but needs to show us the darker undertones (that still make us laugh!).
It’s as much about his inherited condition as how others react to his visual impairment, particularly when he doesn’t fit the stereotype of what one should look like. Skelton is hilarious and humble.
His light-hearted take on what he’s achieved in the last ten years will make you laugh - and think.
Tom Skelton as ‘Sherlock’ at Fringe world Perth
Isaac Freeman's article for Adelaide's Tulpa Magazine is also worth referencing.
Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes means to completely put yourself in a different point of view.
To imagine a life adjacent from your own and understand how it could be seen through another’s eyes.
But what if that person only has 5% vision?
Enter: Tom Skelton.
Tom Skelton: 2020 Visions (What if I hadn’t gone blind?) is an insightful, hilarious, and at times sombre narrative of one man’s journey.
As a VIP (Visually Impaired Person), Skelton puts the audience in his shoes, taking them on a 10 year journey in just under an hour.
2020 Visions begins with a prelude to the tale ahead, providing some minor details and encouraging the audience to laugh at the jokes being made at his expense (after all it is a comedy).
Skelton then takes us from his initial diagnosis to where he is today.
The years are filled with challenges, romance, growth, and laughter.
But he weaves in and out of this reality with an alternate one. A reality where he is not a VIP but a person with 2020 vision. Skelton creates a brilliant contrast as he navigates between the two and dissects his own “What if?”
In the real world he is learning strategies to better handle day-to-day tasks (such as making cups of coffee).
But in the alternate he has successfully eliminated the energy crisis, obesity, and climate change in America by implementing one simple machine in every home.
While he is searching for love in one, he was having a publicised romance with Taylor Swift in the other.
Skelton can show you the hard realities one minute and having you laugh the next at his alternate life fantasy.
This unique perspective is one that sticks and ultimately poses an interesting question to Skelton where he asks himself what reality he wishes to inhabit.
Tom Skelton: 2020 Visions (What if I hadn’t gone blind?) is an expertly crafted narrative and is a show that one takes pleasure in being in the seat for.
Tom Skelton Comedian
As well as written reviews of Tom's show, there were also quite a few radio interviews which are always much appreciated by anyone partially sighted or blind so I am including links to those as well in this section below:
This is the link to the RTRFM Interview re his show in Perth in 2020
https://rtrfm.com.au/story/2020-visions-what-if-i-hadnt-gone-blind-tom-skelton/?fbclid=IwAR3Vg-8XpMDtH0fG8kYXSIOt49LT1q4ihaN0IKWY4Z1f61BXNMPu7v_y9U8
This is the link to Tom's Radio New Zealand (RNZ) interview with Kathryn Ryan
Tom reminded us recently that this is the one where the interviwer called him when we were travelling from Queenstown to the Wet Jackets Winery so he had to scrabble out of the car to do the interview in someone's driveway with a cockerel crowing in the background.
We were all listening in the car and we heard the cockerel crow both outside near where we were parked and on the radio whilst we were listening to the live interview.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018735684/if-i-hadn-t-gone-blind-tom-skelton
This is Tom's interview with Wellington Access Radio Interview
https://www.accessradio.org/ProgrammePage.aspx?PID=3a4b0f2f-678c-48c6-ae1f-ce1d0fb2764c&fbclid=IwAR25LwUiDouzudPjnXRImGpuENceZJmGJwD5fouw3rmvIrQZ_IpXWNlGgHk
This final link is to Vision Australia Radio (Adelaide) Interview
https://varadio.podbean.com/e/leisure-link-22-feb-2020/?fbclid=IwAR0FkxWut33FuWHjKS_eVYxyeuUre4xg81nCtJjYYTpyGmPCQgUcE1jb9Fs
"Hilarious and humble" is how Mark Wickett described Tom Skelton’s comedic style.
That is of course true.
Tom is quick witted, funny, erudite and better read than anyone else I know
But for me what stands out in Tom the comedian and Tom the fiancé, the future son-in-law, the friend is "his quiet endless optimism", even when faced with challenges that would tip many others over the edge of despair.
For that optimism which is so intrinsically part of his nature, we are eternally grateful.
It is that optimism that brought him and our daughter to the Southern Hemisphere and encouraged us to join them for what must undoubtedly be one of the most wonderful travel experiences of our lives.
For that we will be forever thankful to him as we would certainly have never visited those beautiful corners of the earth without his and our daughter's encouragement and our lives would be the poorer for it.
Tom Skelton at Bats Theatre Wellington Fringe
Tom on stage in Wellington
Tom’s tech assistant Ellie at Bat’s Theatre Wellington