There was an époque, about the same time as the Beatles were flexing their muscles, when adult entertainment was often a classy and sophisticated thing. Style, not loudness, was the main ingredient of success. This was a time when shows like Beyond the Fringe and That Was the Week That Was and singers like Eartha Kitt and Juliette Greco provided content for the gossip columns. Music was smooth and chic with combos (as they use to be called) like Dave Brubeck and Stan Getz being what educated people tapped their feet to.

Humour was also very different, relying on wit rather than vulgarity (I’m beginning to sound like a grumpy old man) and a lot of it came from the United States with comedians like Bob Newhart producing a string of iconic LPs based solely on comedy monologues. But probably the most witty and the most sophisticated was the bespectacled academic Tom Lehrer who wrote and sang outrageous, biting and satirical songs at the piano. Mr Lehrer was very Ivy League with his Oxford shirts and horn-rimmed glasses. He was a very brainy chap with popular appeal, a sort of cross between Buddy Holly and Albert Einstein with a lot of Noel Coward thrown in.

Having his act re-created today by someone who was probably not even born when Lehrer was in his prime may seem a bit odd. Not least because of lot of Lehrer’s material was rooted in sixties America. So, there were mentions of the Klu Klux Klan and lots of references to the bomb. But funny is always funny even though some of the references may be out-dated.

Cheltenham based musician Peter Gill performs many tribute acts, ranging from the ridiculous (Jerry Lee Lewis) to the sublime (Noel Coward) and Tom Lehrer, I suspect, falls somewhere in the middle. The songs are so good, so clever and witty that they almost carry themselves, but Mr Gill’s presentation in his show, Politically Incorrect, brought a lot of his own personality to them. His easy rapport with the packed house in the Everyman Studio Theatre made for a very entertaining evening that just whizzed by. He sang with a great deal of relish and cheekiness songs like Poisoning Pigeons in the Park and The Vatican Rag and demonstrated that a song whose lyric consists entirely of the names of the elements in the periodic table can be fun.

Peter Gill can often be found sitting behind a piano in a venue near you and I would certainly recommend his Tom Lehrer evening if you get the chance. I imagine his Noel Coward is just as good, though I can’t vouch for Jerry Lee Lewis. ★★★★☆ Michael Hasted