Magazine: STAGE STRUCK - February 2012

What's in a name? It's a question that was asked long before The Bard penned that line for Juliet. In fact a theme of one of the first stories ever written down is identity and the part your name plays in that.

The Odyssey starts with Homer (that's the old, blind Greek guy, not the fat, yellow cartoon character) claiming that people come into the world with nothing but their name and the inference is that their destiny is somehow shaped by it. Shakespeare on the other hand follows up his question with the line 'a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.' ie. the name's not important it's the person that counts. That certainly accords with our more politically correct world but I can't help thinking that John Wayne may not have had his 'all-American hero' film career if he'd kept his original name of Marion Morrison nor would George Best have slept with three Miss Worlds if his name had been Cuthbert Snotgobbler – one maybe but not three.

Changing your name is common practice in the entertainment world and it's easy to believe that Elton John may not have had stellar success as Reggie Dwight nor Cliff Richard as Harry Webb. And imagine the loss to the world of rhyming slang if Paul Gadd had never changed his name to Gary Glitter.

However one part of the entertainment world that seems to be unaffected by this is stand-up comedy or at least the current generation of stand ups and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm does it? Despite this I can't help but think that the handle plays its part: for every Russell Howard there's a Dara O'Briain, for every Mark Watson there's an Omid Dhjali – not literally obviously I'm not about to expand this comparison into multi universes – but even if in the early days of their career it made those with unusual or likeable names easier to remember isn't that an effect? And what if the opposite is true; that a boring name means someone is harder to recall and therefore their career doesn't quite roll as well? There could be something in it, couldn't there?

I was prompted to speculate along these lines when I saw that Simon Munnery (pictured below) is touring this spring. Despite being a comedian of some experience now – he was part of the original comedy zone at the Edinburgh Festival in 1991 with Stewart Lee and Mark Lamarr – and having had a couple of shows on radio and TV he's never made the leap to household name despite being funnier than at least three of the comedians already mentioned and on his day a match for the others. The reason for this is now probably obvious to you – it's his name isn't it? I mean say it; Simon Munnery. You see you nearly fell asleep didn't you? I think it's the descending syllables in his surname name; Mun–ner-y. It's like falling down a set of soft and comfortable stairs in slow motion.

However his shows are about as far removed from this as is possible to be. In fact they're renowned for being characterised by abstract non-sequiters and existential experimental presentation which, in truth hasn't always hit the mark. But wait, apparently this spring's show, Hats Off To The 101ers, adds a narrative (sort of) which hasn't previously been present and continues the more personal trend which Munnery introduced in his tour last year. It's billed as a one man musical about the R101 airship which crashed on it's maiden voyage killing most of those on board. Sounds like suitably surreal Munnery territory but will no doubt feature diversions into unrelated topics complete with strange props and notable headgear.

If you've become just a little jaded with comedians applying the safety catch just a little to readily to themselves at the expense of some real boundary pushing then Munnery may well be your cup of tea – just don't expect it in a vessel in which you've ever been served tea before. As Shakespeare might have put it 'Munnery; by any other name as mad.'

Simon Munnery is performing Hats Off To The 101ers at The Harlow Playhouse (boxoffice@playhouseharlow.com; 01279 431 945) on the 10th of Feb and Colchester Arts Centre (www.colchesterartscentre.com: 01206 500 900) on the 18th.