Review: Armageddon Outta Here by David Jervis-Green

May 29, 2026

This was the debut performance of Armageddon Outta Here, before it heads to The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Co-written and directed by award winning writer Chris Roberts, he oversees a chaotic 70 minutes of two-hand sketch comedy performed by the other co-writer Tom Johnson and Rob Glenister.

The premise is simple: an asteroid is hurtling towards the Earth where all life will end. The situation takes us to many scenes and characters reacting to the situation. You may be thinking about what you would do if in a similar situation: stay close with family, eat your favourite food, or maybe tell that special someone how you really feel. Not in this show. Here we are treated to scenes involving billionaires waiting for an escape rocket, a teacher desperate to perform his theatrical masterpiece and a band’s first (and last) gig resulting in a genuinely catchy ditty. It’s utter insanity and it absolutely works through the writing and performances. Those of a certain disposition may want to heed this warning: there a lot of swears. But don’t let that guide you into thinking this is a show aiming for the low bar. There are some incredible lines of dialogues and hilarious jokes sewn into the show’s fabric (I won’t spoil it, but the joke about a PDF was undoubted line of the night and if there’s any justice should feature in the Ed Fringe’s gag of the year award).

Tom Johnson is no stranger to performing off-beat comedy. He’s established himself at a young age as one to watch, having revived “Verbal Diary” (a forgotten musical by John Otway & Paul Bradley) to much acclaim in 2024. Despite his years, his performance and writing is clearly influenced by the 80s & 90s alternative comedy scene: Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson-style slapstick, Harry Enfield-style characters, Newman & Baddiel-style scenes (I half expected the verbal conflict between two aging scientists to result in one saying “That’s you, that is”). Though the influences are there for all to see, this is not a criticism or accusation of being unoriginal - he makes everything his own. A sense of danger and anarchy is always looming with Johnson’s performance, where you never truly know if things are really going wrong or if it’s just practiced to perfection. The best example of this being a collapsing chair moment that I’m still not entirely sure about either way.

Rob Glenister makes his scripted comedy debut here, not that you’d know it. For the most part he plays the straight man to Johnson’s insane characters and does so with his own comic gusto. He plays a great range from gung-ho NASA astronaut to little Justin whose mum hasn’t been to collect him from school.

The chemistry between Rob and Tom is clearly there. Pacing and timing were immaculate in places, particularly in an early scene where both play astronauts trying to outdo each other with reasons that they must make the ultimate sacrifice. Parts where things unravelled were handled terrifically too, with each man’s improv experience coming into play. You could tell they were having just as much fun performing as we the audience were watching.

There are certainly parts where things need a bit more practice, scene changes in particular – mostly to help the overall pace, but also as those festival timeslots are particularly rigid. But ultimately this didn’t spoil anything. Armageddon Outta Here is a like riding the asteroid hurtling to Earth – it’s a show where anarchy rules and you just have to go along with it, lest you get left behind! Highest recommendation.

Armageddon Outta Here performance dates: Sunday 31st May, 3pm, Rik Mayall Comedy Festival, Norbury Theatre, Droitwich Spa 6th-17th August, 12pm, Edinburgh Fringe, Just the Tonic at Westside Rodeo (The Salloon Bar)