Very fun event, had booked tickets for my birthday, and we enjoyed it. It was so hot and stuffy, uncomfortably so, in the venue. No fresh air at all. Post-Covid, I find most theatres focus on getting in fresh air, and on a nice chilly SF night, that air would have been incredibly welcome. Too hot, Palace of Fine Arts! But lovely to see the Rest is History chaps live.
As a devoted listener to The Rest is History podcast, I already came to this event very predisposed to like it. I can tell you that I nonetheless left superbly enriched. The first half of the show was a highly interesting and entertaining look at some English transplants to the US in the 19th and 20th century. My favorite part of the show was the second half, when they spent about an hour answering a variety of thought provoking and humorous questions sent in by the audience. I was blown away by Dominic and Tom's ability to give thorough and nuanced answers to a range of tough questions with little or no prep time. Dominic, in particular, had some really funny zingers. My favorite was when someone asked who was America's Nelson. He responded that because Nelson was big on loyalty to King and Country, the best American example of that was Benedict Arnold. Lots of laughs ensued. They were brilliant. It was a fantastic show that I'm so grateful I got to enjoy with my 16 year old son.
As a devoted listener to The Rest is History podcast, I already came to this event very predisposed to like it. I can tell you that I nonetheless left superbly enriched. The first half of the show was a highly interesting and entertaining look at some English transplants to the US in the 19th and 20th century. My favorite part of the show was the second half, when they spent about an hour answering a variety of thought provoking and humorous questions sent in by the audience. I was blown away by Dominic and Tom's ability to give thorough and nuanced answers to a range of tough questions with little or no prep time. Dominic, in particular, had some really funny zingers. My favorite was when someone asked who was America's Nelson. He responded that because Nelson was big on loyalty to King and Country, the best American example of that was Benedict Arnold. Lots of laughs ensued. They were brilliant. It was a fantastic show that I'm so grateful I got to enjoy with my 16 year old son.
The topic was a bit weaker than I had hoped for but, as they do, they put a great spin in it. The Q & A was really fun. But seriously…where is the merch???
Listening to Dominic and Tom in a live show was great. We got to see up close their dynamics and how it really works. A lot of their jokes referenced previous podcasts - a treat for their fans and frequent listeners. I didn’t love the topic of the first half of the show (though interesting as always). The q&a part was fun. The show was fun, but too short! It totaled around 2 hours - including a 15 min break. I would definitely have wanted the show to be longer.
Been a fan of the podcast for years, and a member for a while… the live show was better than I expected. Dominic and Tom were engaged, enthusiastic, and clearly enjoying the show. I’m currently booking travel to L.A. for their show there.
The Rest Is History chaps were entertaining, amusing, intelligent and informative - as always. A class act.
Impressive knowledge, great banter, brilliant to see the pair in ‘The Rest is History’ action.
Tom and Dominic are brilliant on their podcast, particularly when bringing alive incidents from hundreds or thousands of years ago with their detailed research, but the live show was a big disappointment. They talked about English aristocrats who came to get a thrill on the American frontier in the 19th C, which was mildly interesting. And then they talked about the Mitford sisters. Basically the WWII version of the kardashians. Honestly, really underwhelming. Someone should tell them that NY audiences sufficiently erudite that we are actually interested to hear about the history of places other than the US; they don’t have to dumb down and localize their topics. We left halfway through and noticed we weren’t the only ones. Sorry guys.
Not surprisingly, Tom and Dominic hit it out of the park (for British readers, that’s a baseball reference; it’s very positive). Their remarkable breadth and depth of knowledge, along with their usual repartee and dry humor were on display in full force. I brought a friend who had never listened to the podcast and within the first 20 minutes he was hooked. I hope they’ll be back in New York for another round soon!