The Chocolate Diet

Crikey, do we ever stay in of an evening? There’s been a run of things on over that last week, and it’s not going to let up much next week either. On Saturday night we headed into town to watch David Strassman’s latest show, The Chocolate Diet. Remember David Strassman? We last saw him in 2017, with his iTedE Talk show.

 First things first…a quick perusal of my previous blog reveals that we went to Zibibbo for pre-theatre dinner back then. Sadly, Zibibbo is no more, so we went to another of our current crop of pre-theatre faves, Field & Green, there to dine on salmon mousse, leeks & fennel, soufflé, and hraimi – a Jewish spiced fish dish with chickpeas. All up to the required standard. We finished with their famous home-made ice creams…I really must venture away from my usuals (peanut butter and chocolate, and chocolate honeycomb) and try something different next time. Nicola swears by the marmalade flavour (“it’s bloody good!”).

We were at the Opera House for this show, but fortunately in the stalls rather than up in the gods as we were for Rob Brydon the other day. In case I haven’t mentioned it, Strassman is a ventriloquist. He has a range of characters, who he introduces at various stages of the show. The main one is Ted E Bare, and he kicks off with him, explaining his love of eating chocolate, and the effects that this is having on his body. Later in the show, after Chuck Wood has given Ted some chocolate (that he got from the pharmacy), Ted reappears after having catastrophically lost weight. Chuck Wood is a foulmouthed teenager, who often insults the other characters, Strassman, and the audience – he has no filter. Other characters who appear are Buttons, the drunken clown; Sid Beaverman, a beaver who aspires to stand-up comedy (unfortunately, his jokes are awful); Grandpa Fred, Ted’s grandfather, who has lost most of his marbles; and Kevin the Alien. Each of these gets an outing, but Ted remains the main star – despite Chuck’s attempts to derail the show and make himself the main act.

It's all great fun, very well written and delivered, and no, you can’t see his lips move.