Once again I find myself going to see a comedian live for the first time after having been a long-term admirer of their TV and radio work. Once again, the same old story unfortunately, and I come away from the gig liking them much less than I did beforehand, feeling disappointed by the experience. This is becoming something of a 'theme' for me of late.
Is he the one from Bake Off: Extra Slice? - yes, he is! But I know him more from the radio series 'Hal' which he wrote himself, and for his appearances on 'Have I Got News For You' and 'Live At The Apollo'. He is, by his own admission, slightly camp, which he uses to his advantage, and is actually a very articulate and clever actor, writer and comedian. His insights are clever and thought-through, and his demeanour deliberately chaotic. His is enigmatic and strong, and has good material with which to work. So why then, if all this is true, did his act not hit the mark this evening?
The answer to that is simple. Thus far everything I have heard from Cruttenden had been 'TV and radio sanitised'. ie; there were little or no swear words and his act fit into 'pre-watershed' slots nicely. At ALL of these times, Cruttenden was hilarious, cutting edge and his well-observed routines were appreciated by young and old alike gaining applause aplenty. Why then, does he - and almost every comedian on the planet - think, that if they stand on a stage and deliver basically the same material, basically the same way, with basically the same behaviours and mannerisms, it would be much funnier to simply add gratuitous swear-words in every sentence. It simply doesn't make any sense and let me tell you now, it doesn't make it any funnier at all. In fact it does just the opposite!
Even after learning very early on in the set that a 12 year old boy was sitting on the front row, he still continued effing and jeffing his way through the rest of his set, even swearing directly at the boy. Admittedly the show is a 16+ advertised gig - but, seriously there is absolutely no need for this. A joke is a joke and is either funny or not depending on one's own sense of humour. Adding several expletives to that joke does not make it more funny! When will comedians ever learn this??! Bring back Bob Monkhouse and Ken Dodd!! I might also add that I am far from prudish and can swear like a trouper myself at times. Adding a swear word to a joke though must be considered. If the joke only works with it, or by adding it it gives the joke extra 'punch', then this is OK, but swear words are like a fine Madeira wine and should be used sparingly and for special occasions only!
However, changing the subject.. the start to Cruttenden's set was delightful. Truly so. A unique and surprising start which saw him dance balletically onto the stage and perform an interpretive dance to 'Let It Go'! He was surprisingly nimble and agile and his mocking of the genre was hugely funny! He then received a heckle from an audience member, 'Don't peak too early!' - too late, he had!
The rest of his routine had him ranting and raving both justifiably and comedically on subjects ranging from fatness, [his teenage daughters had given him the title of his tour - Chubster], death, politics both homegrown and American, death, his Northern Irish wife, death, Intelligence v. stupidity {MENSA v DENSA}, and death. And he did make an excellent extended joke to finish his set which referenced and tied-in all his other subjects in the one joke. Clever and funny.
Before Cruttenden though, there was, as is mostly the case, a warm-up / support comedian. In this case it was Eshaan Akbar. However, in this case and not in any other case to my own experience certainly, was he equally as good as the main act.
Akbar's style and observationalisms were very similar to Cruttenden's, but the advantage Akbar had was that he could be racist and completely get away with it. Born in England from a Pakistani father and a Bangladeshi mother, and being quatra-lingual, he has experiences and issues which he can easily poke fun at and we can find excellently observed and very humorous, but we would simply never dare to repeat ourselves! Akbar's 23 minutes on the stage were not actually long enough, and his anecdotes about his multi-cultural upbringing were both a surprise and cleverly expressed. It was edgy, very near the knuckle, contentious, but delivered with charm and savoir-faire! By the way, what is the difference between a Muslim and a Sikh turban? we never did find out!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6/10/18
No comments:
Post a Comment