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MICKY FLANAGAN Blokeish bonhomie from Cockney comic
T here are various methods of gaining comedy fame these days, and not all of them require our stand-ups to be young males who are skinny of both hair and jean. There’s also the John Bishop method of getting on: wait until you’ve actually lived a life, gather up a bunch of affable stories, plough the small-venue furrow, take the odd financial hit, get onto a chat and / or panel show and bingo, you’ll soon be selling out rooms the size of cruise ships.
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If Bishop was Cockney than Scouse and grew his hair out a bit more, he’d quite simply be Micky Flanagan. The pair’s stratospheric ascent to fame has been uncannily similar, with both having played small Pleasance sweatboxes at the Fringe. In 2007, Flanagan became the oldest act to be
shortlisted for the Best Newcomer prize while Bishop got a slot on the main awards list in 2009 after several years ploughing away to little audience interest. And both have an air of the Everyman about them, underdogs who have risen to be top cats with their blokeish bonhomie striking a real chord once the public was finally alerted to their actual existence. After glorious success with the Out Out tour, Flanagan returns with Back in the Game, in which he will discuss his ‘Africa poor’ East End childhood, a continued love of low-level crime and his dad’s wartime stories. An abject lesson in never giving up, Micky Flanagan’s career goes from massive to positively lunar. (Brian Donaldson)
SECC, Glasgow, Thu 10 Oct.
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HITLIST THE BEST COMEDY EVENTS
✽ Celia Pacquola The Aussie comic bypassed the Fringe this
year and has currently been filming a sitcom back in her homeland. Affable and occasionally oddball stand-up at its most affably oddball. The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 1 Oct; The Stand, Glasgow, Wed 2–Sat 5 Oct.
✽ Stewart Lee You know the kind of thing that this master of the stand-up form is
capable of by now, surely? See 5 Things, page 56. Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 9 Oct.
✽ Micky Flanagan The vastly popular Cockney chap is back, so it’s time to go out out. See preview, left. SECC, Glasgow, Thu 10 Oct.
✽ Russell Brand Possibly one of the
misunderstood geniuses of the stand-up game, the loquacious geezer fires back with some pointed chat about lots of dead icons. See Opinion, page 12. SECC, Glasgow, Fri 11 Oct; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 12 Oct.
✽ Marcel Lucont If you fancy being ‘charmed’ by a ‘Frenchman’, here is your
opportunity as this most gallus of Gallic comics gets intimate. See My Comedy Hero, page 57. The Stand, Edinburgh, Sun 13 Oct; The Stand, Glasgow, Mon 14 Oct.
✽ Abandoman A classic Fringe act
at the Pleasance: it’s like recreating the halcyon days of August once more. The Moonrock Boombox guy has all the comedy beats you’ll ever need. The Pleasance, Edinburgh, Wed 16 Oct.
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19 Sep–17 Oct 2013 THE LIST 53