All the right notes, and in the right order
Posted on 12th November 2026
A comedy show about Chopin’s ‘Nocturne’ may sound like a surprising idea, but for Aiden Jones it was the size of the Corn Hall that surprised him. “I’m not used to playing venues as big as this,” said a man who, for all his potty-mouthed histrionics, was a self-effacing ball of nervous energy. He shouldn’t have worried. For a relatively unknown comic, he pulled in a decent crowd. Hopefully one, he added, that weren’t expecting a Chopin concert.
Aiden Jones Chopin’s Nocturne may not be a concert, and perhaps not quite a lecture either, but after ten minutes of stand-up, which to my mind had a lot to do with settling nerves, I did wonder when we would get round to what it said on the tin. The evening initially revolved around crowd work, with the odd ribald quip thrown in for good measure, and I’m thinking, so far, this is a perfectly solid performance from a circuit comic. One’s attention, however, could never quite escape the piano-shaped elephant in the room. “I’ve been doing this for ten years,” he opined, as if in response to that niggle, “but was never satisfied with how well I was doing.” Until, that was, his epiphany.
Why not rekindle his love of 19th-century classical music, his skill at piano playing and combine them with the irresistible pull of the comedy circuit? Well, lots of reasons, I’d have thought, but it turned out to be the key to unlocking a unique and oddly uplifting evening. If you’ve ever taken apart a clock, a radio or a mechanical toy, you’ll empathise with Jones’s inclination to disassemble one of Chopin’s Nocturnes. Each note of the opening few bars was expertly examined and explained in a way that genuinely brought a greater understanding of the piece. I’m not sure his analogies always worked – will I ever hear that music again without picturing a drunkard being sick on a station platform? I certainly hope so. Nonetheless, his analysis of the emotional impact of shifting from major to minor, or the triumph of discovering the central musical motif of C flat, or just the simple joy of channelling his artistry was both inspired and inspiring.
Part way through his routine, jokingly suggested he should be teaching kids this stuff. At the time, I thought, cut the dodgy humour and that’s exactly what you should be doing. Not just to kids, but to everyone. His clarity of expression, his obvious enthusiasm and his undoubted wit made him an excellent educator on the night. Whether he’s a better pianist or comedian is moot, but he’s definitely a better comedian when at the piano.