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Steve Hughes: Big Issues
Live Review
Leicester Square Theatre

For an outspoken spokesman for the non-compliant counter-culture, Steve Hughes can be remarkably mainstream.

He’s got routines about all those baffling coffee choices in Starbucks about those elaborate revolving toilet doors on intercity trains and about how Steve Irwin’s 2006 death was no surprise after a lifetime of poking dangerous animals. Hacky observational comedy of the simplest – and least interesting – kind.

Yet he is forgiven these weak points, partly because he does at least express them with a witty flourish of language, but mainly because they have little relevance to the bigger picture: a consistent and passionate comedy outlook driven by his distinctive convictions. Suspicion is the single defining trait – or paranoia, depending on where your sympathies lie.

And the bigger picture, as the show’s title suggests, is this grizzled Australian’s main concern. His material contains almost as many references to such global ideas such as the ‘corporate Satantic matrix’ or humanity’s ‘singular consciousness’ as there are C-bombs. Which is a lot.

His instinct – no, his compulsion – is to question authority, in whatever form it takes, from CCTV surveillance to health and safety. Sometimes you suspect he’s disputing orthodoxies just for the sake of it, but he’s of the opinion that apathy is the biggest threat to freedom, and is determined not to join a populace complicit in the erosion of their own rights.

Even if you don’t wholeheartedly agree with his worse-case-scenario outlook, Hughes is funnier, and more gentle, than the preachy politics might suggest. Well, for the bulk of the show at least -– in the closing third or so, he spends a lot of the comedy capital he’s acquired as he mounts his soapbox and pushes the message ahead of the jokes. Received wisdom is here dismissed with a derisory snort, rather than the piercing barbs which characterise his best routines.

Hughes’s fans will have heard some of this before; as it’s not only the same issues that have consumed him for the past decade or so, but some of the same routines, too. However newcomers to his work are in for a treat, and there is enough fresh writing for this not to be merely a ‘greatest hits’ tour on the back of a couple of high-profile telly gigs.

As well as his outsider politics, Hughes comes across as the ultimate road comic – the product of a life of hard, transient living that provides a vicarious fascination for the more buttoned-down component of his audience… which, compared to him, is pretty much everyone. But he’s charming with it, widening his appeal.

Hughes still has the earthy demeanour of the heavy metal guitarist he used to be. But with his stand-up he proves himself a skilful lyricist, too, able to condense his big ideas into a pithy, elegant punchline. One brief routine about privacy ends with the payoff ‘How come my house has more rights than I do?’ which is typically efficient and eloquent.

Kudos, too, to opening act Sully O’Sullivan – who didn’t push the boat out in terms of originality, and had a forced cadence that’s too obviously fake – but he got the job done with skilful audience banter, and some perfectly dropped punchlines that provided an appealing twist to routine set-ups.

It all makes for an entertaining night of subtle sedition – sticking it to The Man, but with a smile.

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I can honestly say he is the funniest comedian I have ever seen.I laughed,I cried,until I couldnt laugh or cry any more. A genius with a relaxed 'Steve Hughes' interpretation of the world we live in. It was therapy more than a stand up show... It was brilliant.

Adrian Dobson, November 2012

Steve at the Ironworks Inverness 24th March: This relaxed Aussie entertained the audience with his brand of Hippy Zen philosophy with a matter of fact Antipodean approach that had an affinity with a proportion of the audience. As time goes on, Steve's material will evolve and move on from his political/corporate business jibes that seem to jar with his ideology. He's a natural comedian who can make fun of any subject matter that is a rare gift. Look forward to where his comedy content takes him?

Douglas Thomson, April 2012

Saw Steve last night in Cardiff and laughed my pants off as did everyone else around me. Yes the material was a little Hicks-y BUT if you're gonna do a little cribbing, then do it from the best :)

Nic, February 2012

Funny when not ramming his own personal politics down people's throats. If you are so anti capitalist, can I have my money back?

Cd, February 2012

Saw steve last night at Doncaster Dome, absolutely side splitting, cheek bones aching with laughing. met him outside afterwords and he had the time and patience to speak with everyone, 10/10 top night.

sean, February 2012

On looking through these comments, it's hilarious how many people accuse Steve Hughes of being racist. I don't pick any of that up from his material in the slightest. As most of those accusations come from women (and their boyfriends no doubt), I'd say these people are being just a little over-sensitive. The guy is a comedian. Do you understand that concept? Do you perhaps need it in braille or large font before you understand that comedians are not supposed to be taken seriously / literally? The whole point of comedy is to leave your brain at the door & actually attempt to add some humour into your sad existence.rnrnSteve Hughes is a great comedian. Some idiots may like to point out that he's overdosed on Bill Hicks material, but at the end of the day, NOTHING is original, EVERYTHING is Xerox somewhere down the line, just with a slightly different slant. So don't think you're impressing anyone into thinking you're above average intelligence by trying to 'expose' Steve as a mere tribute act. He is a genuinely funny guy with his own unique views on life. If you're offended by that, then hell slap it into you...

John, April 2011

I had the privilege of seeing Steve Hughes last night at Komedia in Brighton, and bloody good he was too, top bloke, and Komedia a good venue, well done to all.

stewart, August 2010

First time seeing Steve at the comedy carnival last night and he didn't disappoint, a lot better than most of the bland nonsense that passes for comedy these days. Well done sir,yourself and mister Wool had me in stitches.

Richy C, July 2010

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