COMEDY | Previews
EXPERIMENTAL STAND-UP JOHN-LUKE ROBERTS Veneer Gallery, Glasgow, Fri 16 Mar John-Luke Roberts’ latest show is billed as a work- in-progress, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to sell short. This is simply how Roberts works and a beautiful but strange creature will no doubt manifest itself in My Title Exceeds 50 Characters. ‘I do a lot of my writing on stage, so work-in-progresses are invaluable to me. Also, they’re pretty fun shows to watch: we all end up finding the show together. Somehow, it’s usually not a disaster. “John-Luke Roberts: usually not a disaster”,’ he jokes.
Given the eclectic nature of his influences, it’s no surprise that most of Roberts’ shows are full of the unexpected and are as ridiculous as they are funny. Citing Simon Munnery, Vic and Bob, Barry Humphries and Victoria Wood, he also draws inspiration from ‘theatre and cabaret, and drag, and performance art. I was reading a lot of Ali Smith before last year’s show and I think that influenced that particular one. The Wicker Man too.’ Never one to shy away from a highbrow reference, last year’s show (Look on My Works, Ye Mighty And
Despair: All in Caps) included a running appearance from that literary superstar of the middle ages, Geoffrey Chaucer. ‘There’s a particular joy in taking a stupid thought about a thing that maybe 50% of your audience know, and being able to get the whole room laughing. So this year I’m not turning any idea down, no matter how strange or obscure, and playing with it until I can find a way to make it work for whoever has turned up.’ Expect many innovative, hybrid wonders to emerge, then. (Marissa Burgess)
STORYTELLING DAVID BADDIEL: MY FAMILY – NOT THE SITCOM Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 13 Mar; Rose Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 29 Jun
In 2016, when David Baddiel premiered his new show My Family: Not the Sitcom, he quite aptly described it as a ‘twisted love letter to my parents’. Now, with a sold-out series of performances at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory behind him as well as two highly acclaimed West End runs, Baddiel is taking his one-man monologue on the road to theatres across the country.
My Family: Not the Sitcom is an atypical two- hour show in which Baddiel celebrates the lives of his parents, Sarah and Colin, by delving deep into their idiosyncrasies, flaws and various quirks. He starts by discussing his recently deceased mother, reading extracts from the erotic emails written to her lover with whom she had a 20 year-long affair, later switching the attention to his father, who has dementia and is prone to sweary outbursts and bouts of anger. It may seem disrespectful to use intimate
memories of your parents in such a manner, but the honesty with which Baddiel discloses their dysfunction, from his mum’s infidelity to his dad’s unexpected aggression, is both refreshing and endearing, highlighting a tenderness that is at times complex. ‘It’s a glib thing to say, but if comedy is therapy, then this really is that,’ he explained in an interview with The Guardian. ‘It’s incredibly close to me, the most personal of all of my comedy. I’m going to talk about difficult stuff – sex and dementia and death – and it’s by far the most difficult thing I’ve ever written.’ The show falls somewhere in between stand-up
and storytelling, with Baddiel using an extended monologue to paint a candid yet hilarious portrait of his parents. Everyone deals with grief in different ways and My Family: Not the Sitcom is an ode to the imperfections that make your loved ones who they truly are. (Arusa Qureshi)
54 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 54 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018
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MY COMEDY HERO TIFF STEVENSON Blackfriars, Glasgow, Fri 16 Mar; Rose Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 4 May
I came quite late to Wanda Sykes, maybe four or five years ago, after someone suggested I check her out as we had a similar idea on reproductive rights. I’d seen her in movies but hadn’t come across her stand-up. The first thing I watched was Sick & Tired and I was immediately struck by how much the crowd loved her. I had no idea just how famous she actually was. She spent the first couple of minutes dealing with that fact, and talking about very broad and accessible things. Then after about 15 minutes, another gear kicks in. You barely notice it happening but we’re into social politics and big philosophical ideas. An immediate masterclass in how to take all of your audience with you. There is never a point in that special when Wanda isn’t accessible, in the room, one of them. Even though the ‘them’ is a very disparate group of people: some were there having watched the TV show Crank Yankers, some from seeing her in Jennifer Lopez romcom fodder, and some pure stand-up fans. Sick & Tired was before Wanda came out, and from that point on, the work just got even better. By being open about her sexuality she was able to unpack homophobic attitudes as well as racist and sexist ones: ‘it’s easier being black than gay; I never had to come out as black’. All this did come at the personal cost of being estranged from her parents, but she’s bold and brave and I love her for it. A hero should be brave. (As told to Brian Donaldson) ■ See more about Tiff Stevenson’s comedy hero at list.co.uk/comedy.