Sending out an SOS

In the late 1990s, David Hoyle was The Divine David. This 'avant garde' comic alter ego became a cult figure thanks to his booze-fuelled anti-gay pronouncements (his catchphrase was 'Being gay is a waste of time'), alarming appearance (his be-wigged, mascara-clad deranged look was likened to 'Liza Minnelli after a car crash') and a late-night Channel 4 show in which he decorated Christmas trees with meat.

Those days are gone. Hoyle killed off The Divine David in 2000, 'had an existential crisis' and has come back chirpier and more mainstream. Why? Because, as he says: 'There's no money in being the avant garde performer's avant garde performer.' The crucial difference is that The Divine David played in clapped-out gay pubs to pissed-up punters, while David Hoyle plays in the genteel Soho Theatre and even kicks things off with a retro light entertainment dance number.

While conquering his demons has been good news for Hoyle, it makes for a less exciting show. The Divine David's unique appeal was in the scary bitterness with which he delivered his pronouncements along with the

unpredictability of what would happen next - one show saw Hoyle try to hack his skin off as part of a 'striptease'. Hoyle remains a very likeable, eccentric performer with enough random monologues on growing up in Blackpool ('As a child I thought We're Having A Gang Bang was the national anthem'), mental health calamities and capitalism to suggest this cleaned-up comeback is, hopefully, the end of his self-imposed retirement. All that and the most unique interpretation of Abba's SOS you'll hear all week. What more do you want?
Until tomorrow, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street W1, 9.30pm, £17.50, £15 concs (returns only). Tel: 0870 429 6883. www.sohotheatre.com.

David Hoyle: SOS