Marc Blake in Manners
Note: This review is from 2005
Despite moving away from his German Helmut character this year, Marc Blake still shows the same adept skill at writing some great one and two liners. However, without the funny accent and nationally confused point of view, Blake is not nearly as memorable in this hour.
The one thing that he does carry through from his previous persona is the sense of bemusement that pervades his writing. However, where Helmut was perplexed by his experiences in Britain, Blake is more concerned with contemporary society. More specifically, he believes that manners have become a thing of the past, a theory he advances through observational routines.
Therefore, Blake deals with topics such as mobile phones and airline travel, focusing his comic eye upon how others behave with these objects and in these situations. Under each heading he does construct several competent gags – often focusing upon how badly or rudely people can act – but things rarely progress beyond this. Although he is a practiced gagsmith, Blake is an uninspired one, relying too heavily upon the formulaic and tired.
Despite being amiable enough for 60 minutes Blake is not the most distinctive of performers, which also makes the hour unmemorable. Rather the show is a series of lines that are funny enough at the time, but are immediately forgotten, thanks to the lack of imagination and thought that has gone into the show.
Review date: 1 Jan 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett