Review Roundup: MR. SWALLOW: SHOW PONY at Richmond Theatre

After a sell-out 2023 UK tour and extended run in London’s West End, Nick Mohammed returned as his alter-ego Mr. Swallow with a brand new show, Mr. Swallow: Show Pony at Richmond Theatre. 

Best known in the US for his portrayal of Nate Shelley on "Ted Lasso," Nick Mohammed is one of the UK's most celebrated comedians, actors, and writers. This Mr. Swallow show has played to sold out theatres across the UK.

Nick has received acclaim for his previous Mr. Swallow shows INCLUDING Dracula!, Houdini, The Vanishing Elephant, and A Christmas Carol-ish.... Read the reviews for Show Pony here!

Brian Logan, The Guardian:  You could argue there are several discrete shows in here, pulling in opposing directions. But that’s partly the point of this fantastic offering, which both dramatises the tension between the different acts Nick Mohammed could be, and delights us with all of them.

Veronica Lee, The Arts Desk: The audience work is superb – even if an overly refreshed women nearly derailed one of the set pieces on the night I saw the show. But Mohammed, a genuinely charming man, dealt with her with aplomb. No matter, though, as Mr Swallow’s magic tricks – Mohammed is a member of the Magic Circle – continue to amaze.
The show, while tightly constructed, has a wonderfully loose feeling to it too, as if the comic is winging it. But of course he’s not, and Mr Swallow, as ever, takes flight.

Gary Martin, Everything Theatre: This is an extremely intelligent, well-structured and charismatic performance by Mohammed. By using the character of Mr Swallow, we see inside the mind of someone who maybe isn’t too comfortable being just himself on stage. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Dominic Maxwell, The Times: His bombastic sense of intimacy has become one of the purest delights in British comedy. So it’s a mistake to cede the stage midway through the first half for a support act: Swallow works best in purely his own universe. Can this comedic high-wire act still go wrong? Anyone who saw the act go thud at the Bafta film awards last year will tell you with a shudder that it can. Here Mohammed-meets-Swallow doesn’t just own up to that, he gives that ill-fated performance context and turns it into another fabulously funny tale.