Review: Tom Lucy: Reluctant Millennial

Ugh. Tom Lucy is only 22, he’s already got years of standup experience under his belt, and is on the books at one of the biggest comedy agencies out there. He is, in other words, barely an adult yet well on his way to 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

The most remarkable thing about Reluctant Millennial, Lucy’s fresh hour of material, is just how calm and casual he is on stage. He’s totally chilled, so that even when his jokes don’t quite land, he just takes a sip of water, grins, and rolls on. He’s been doing this since he was 15 and it shows; it’s completely relaxing to be in his company, and that can’t be said of a lot of 22-year-old comics.

And it’s a good thing, too, because this isn’t A-grade stuff by any stretch of the imagination. The show is loosely structured around Lucy’s angsty existence as a young adult. He manages to steer clear of the painful pitfall of an avocado toast routine and there’s some nicely wry observational stuff, but there’s still plenty of cliché in his set. Dating apps? Tick. Binge drinking? Tick. Social media stuff? Tick.

His strength is his easy-going charisma, which he uses consistently and confidently when chatting to his audience, bouncing ideas off them, asking them questions, and gently poking fun at them. He’s not in complete control but he doesn’t seem to care. Nothing seems to faze him. And that’s a very good sign.