Al Murray The Pub Landlord: Compete For The Meat
Live Review

Forget the enormo-domes; this is Al Murray as he should be experienced, up close and personal. Very personal.

Hosting his own pub quiz in the intimate confines of the Ace Dome, the Pub Landlord spares no quarter from his superluminally-quick, haranguing banter, sharp as a tequila shot but as inoffensive as a pint of mild. In this lunchtime session he instigated a fantastic running joke about a man so devoid of presence he couldn’t be seen, with an obvious spontaneity that made even Murray himself laugh.

The aim of this show is simple. ‘We’re not here to break taboos,’ the Guv’nor insists. ‘We’re here to hand out chicken.’ For top prize is some frozen poultry – with a bonus prize of the salmonella bacteria that must surely be multiplying under the sweltering lights. It’s 23 per cetn pork sausages for the runners-up.

This is serious stuff, with contestants vocal in their yearning for the meat; while the pub quiz itself is entirely genuine. Sure, Murray has added some twists of his own, and not just in the lovely comic flourishes in the wording of many questions. There’s the Dave round, all about famous Daves; an elimination system for the team deemed, free of political correctness ‘thick and slow’; and a snack-based playoff which ultimately cost the critics’ team a coveted top-two placement.

Impressively, Murray promises a different set of questions every day; though as this run long sold out – understandably at just a fiver – we’ll have to take his word for that. But whatever the knowledge put to the test, this is simply brilliant knockabout fun. No question.