CV

April Fool for Mencap
Live Review

Another week, another benefit. After Comic Relief and the Royal Albert Hall’s Teenage Cancer Trust gig, and amid a smattering of post-earthquake fundraisers (Russell Howard headlines a biggie at London’s Lyric Theatre on the 11th), comes this April Fool gig for Mencap, boasting such a hugely impressive line-up that they could surely have filled the 3,000-capacity Hammersmith Apollo several times over.

Jo Brand, with her background in mental health, was the obvious choice of host, and used her expertise to clarify the difference between learning difficulties, where Mencap works, and mental illness in the only momentary bit of earnestness of the night. More importantly, she is increasingly adopting the role of comedy’s matron, an unflappable rock of stability who, knows there’s a job to be done, so will damn well get on and do it as no one else can be trusted to. She suffers no nonsense in life, or on stage, batting away the ironic wolf-whistles with her world-weary shrug.

The compering duties were occasionally taken up by with an under-used Miranda Hart, perhaps showing the charity can attract more big names than it quite knows what to do with. Still, it’s always nice to see her.

First full act of the night was the seemingly ubiquitous Jack Whitehall, turned out uncharacteristically smartly in a tailored suit. He mixed some topical issues, including the Midsomer Murders race row, with broader observational material such as his nostalgia for the simpler times of the Nokia 3310 mobile phone. Whitehall often comes across as a vessel for effective but impersonal gags that could be performed by almost anybody, and tonight was not exception. He performs flawlessly, and the writing is strong - although nothing in his set defines him as an individual.

The increasingly animated Chris Addison, however, has his own style, exaggerating simple remarks into cascading rapids of indignant fury. The impracticality of Ugg boots is often commented on, for example, but in his resolutely middle-class grouchiness, the rant is irresistibly impassioned; the fact that its trigger is so trivial making it all the more amusing. Nor is it only a tour de force of passion; the Thick Of It star has an eye for hilarious juxtaposition, as his Pope routine incontrovertibly proves.

Next, Miranda introduced her Hyperdrive co-star Kevin Eldon, who initially baffled the audience with his fragmented, surreal nonsense, as he deliberately struggled to find a coherent catchphrase and jiggled about with Cleesian crazy legs in a segment that perhaps belied his origins as an actor rather than a naturalistic stand-up. Even by the end of his offbeat set, I’m not convinced most knew what to make of him, although his comic songs gave more than enough inventive wit to relate to, whether in the form of the French Proclaimers or the witty, and beautifully executed, My CDs Jump.

Another of Miranda’s screen colleagues, next with Not Going Out’s Lee Mack and his supercharged Lancastrian charm. He blasted through such proven-to-be-effective routines as applying cinema’s ‘strong language’ warnings to real life, the Scouse dialect, or one-armed CBBC presenter Cerrie Burnell. Everything’s a joke to Mack – which, counterintuitively, isn’t a universal a approach in comedy these days – but it gives his routine an unprepossessing cherry charm, with a sackful of gags to match. It’s a grand combination, which made for a hugely entertaining turn.

After Catherine Tate literally poked her head around the stage flaps – why? – came the first genuine arena-filler of the night, in the bullet-headed form of Al Murray. The cracking pace of his audience banter, combined with the familiarity of his character which means we instantly know his views on, say, the male textiles teacher he unearths, makes this knockabout fun. His attempts to get the theatre involved in a shoutalong rendition on Incy Wincy Spider had mixed results, but the sight of a grown man dancing so emphatically, like a Thunderbirds puppet controlled by a two-year-old, is inherently uproarious.

Ms Tate returned for her proper turn at the start of part two, reprising the decade-old sketch where her favourite Nan character originated. It was from Lee Mack’s Perrier-nominated Edinburgh show, so with her old companion also on hand to provide her senile husband, this was an interesting slice of comic nostalgia. In this version, there’s hints of a role reversal, with Mack’s pensioner acting like an archetypal ‘old woman’ dithering over a familiar face on TV, while the wife has more masculine traits of swearing and vicious impatience.

Another treat next as Harry Hill made a rare return to the live comedy arena – and it’s marvellous to have him back, with his disjointed surrealism adding to his inventive, eccentric jokes – rather than being a fig leaf to conceal their absence. The style has become familiar, but there’s still plenty of invention in the writing, while his affectation of singing random song lyrics is made all the funnier given the overtly sexual content of the modern hits he chooses seems so out of place coming from a big-collared loon. Hopefully this is a precursor to more.

Stewart Francis, though perhaps not as well known as most of the comics on this bill, nonetheless proved a hit with his collection of impeccable one-liners, delivered with zen-like poise. His set offered a mix of old and new, but his well-honed gags bear repeated listening, while there’s certainly some prime contenders for future classics among the freshly-minted material. A class act.

Lucy Porter claimed this was her first night on stage since becoming a mum, and if true, would explain why much of her material about the romance going out of her relationship and the trails of motherhood seemed underpowered. Like many of her recent shows, it’s Porter’s delightful, elfin charm that ensures our attention, while the laughs need beefing up – and condensing. There are long build-ups to mid-level punchlines here. Still, she left us on her tried-and-tested routine about bank security questions than ensured she exited on a high.

So who was to be the headliner among the headliners? Step forward Sean Lock, with his appealing mix of insight, silliness and restrained performance; nicely building up a routine from a simple observation about the suitability of pirates as children’s icon, though to delightfully-expressed jibes at Jordan’s expense and on to a brilliantly imagined flight of fancy in which Madonna becomes (or is) a grotesque, sexually voracious predator, which he acts out with disturbing conviction. Don’t have nightmares.

He proved fine end to a fine night, the likes of which we won’t see until… well, the next star-heavy benefit. They’re a generous lot, comics.

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I am so glad to have found The Catherine. I have watched Ab Fab over and over again and I am a huge fan of theirs. She is the closest thing that I have found to their sense of humor. I am a Southern Girl - and I just adore her. She has many fans here in the great state of Texasuly ledgendary style, I saw one small session and I just want to see more of him, so funny he had my sides spliting

Sam, August 2006

The League of Gentlemen, Little Britain and Catherine Tate are all very funny and spot on a lot of the time. You really can't compare them to each other. They all miss the mark occasionally, but for the most part they are television worth watching

J Bauer, July 2006

Catherine Tate is British comedy at its best. She is superb and the characters are well grounded. Excellent comedy - a more modern version of Dick Emery, Benny Hill and Harry Enfield. Catherine Tate rocks

Steve Montgomery, July 2006

I am sure Catherine is a very nice woman.. but funny she aint'... her comedy seems to be a poor rip off of Little Britain and I hope the BBC recognise that soon and get rid of her.

Barry Norris, July 2006

Absurdly, painfully and unrelentingly unfunny. Perhaps the most unbelievable of sketches is the 'What am I like' couple. Upon seeing this sketch, you're almost guaranteed to cram your fist into your mouth in the vain hope you'll lose consciousness before you are subjected to another of the catchphrases. Standing alongside shows like Little Britain (which is perhaps not as funny as some make it out to be), the Catherine Tate Show falls short in every area it should reach. It isn't entertaining - unless you're completely mental - it isn't funny, and it's not even a good waste of a half hour. This time could be better spent banging your head on a table, and you'd probably be more entertained.

Stephen, July 2006

Catherine Tate is 200% talent. She is so refreshing and different. Given her immense ability to change from one very unique character to the next, I would love to see her in a TV drama role i think she would be fantastic. She makes me and my mum laugh out loud and we look forward to watching her every night. Give us more

N Baker, July 2006

There s no getting away from the fact that she s immensely talented, but is she funny? To me the material's okay but seen one show, seen em all. She reminds me of Tracey Ullman, when the comedy became secondary to the first objective, which was to show us at every moment of every show of every series, just how talented she was. I am an exiled Brit living in Chicago and recently saw Catherine Tate for the first time on BBC America. I was fed up with Am I Bovvered before the end of the sketch and the closet gay guy is the same every week. But the point was really made when I saw a sketch where the police were offering her a safe haven as an escape from the stigma of being .ginger. Not really funny but that s almost beside the point. What was the idea behind the Liverpudlian accent? To once again show us that she can do yet another accent brilliantly. The weak comedy got lost in it all. Why wouldn t it have worked as well in her own accent? This clever lady would be better employed as a character actress. Her show clashes with one here called The Chelsea Handler Show. Handler will never make mainstream American TV (the material is just to raunchy But she is funny and original and when doing a sketch, plays herself and lets the strength of the comic material carry the act. Look and learn Catherine, look and learn. Make the show funny and be yourself more. The look-at-me-aren t- I-talented act will soon grow tiresome.

KD, July 2006

You have got to be kidding me, this show is painfully unfunny. Every time I now here a kid say 'Bothered' it makes me want to to rip their throat out

Gina, July 2006

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