My friend had seen Paul Merton at The Globe and Leicester Square Comedy Clubs a while back – both stand up gigs – and was really keen to see him again. I remember fondly those quirky newspaper kiosk and dolphin sketches on the TV and I was recovering from emergency dental surgery and really needed a good laugh. So we took ourselves along to see his latest show at Richmond Theatre last night.
With a bit of a mix-up over the tickets we were upgraded to a box – I was nervous as I’d seen previous comedians make fun of those with such select seats. We were entirely safe though – apart from a gentle teasing of one front row couple (Kate the lawyer and her husband who hesitated in remembering how long they’d been married) there was no audience baiting. In fact, the whole show was rather restrained – despite the light that indicated when bad language was being used.
It was a full house and we listened to some Neil Diamond tracks while inspecting the stage set which looked like a dressing room on a Monty Python show. After his three support folk introduced him with cards, the first surprise was how old Paul looks. I know we all age but I still remember him much younger and with a shock of dark hair. He wore a well cut, sombre grey suit and a rainbow shirt. He reminded us that it was 1980s when he last did stand up and instantly went into a routine about “Have I got news for you?”.
It was well rehearsed and the delivery was measured. There were early gags about the Royal Family and a couple of impressions thrown in. The bunny and the piano sketch made me laugh. The show is meant to be autobiographical so there were references to early experiences with nuns and the suppression of his “travel to the moon” imagination – these themes continued throughout the show and the later sketch with bunnies rescuing his brain to the Dambusters theme tune was sheer genius.
There was Little Paul puppet and some ventriloquism and what appeared to be some improvisation using pets and sports suggested by the audience and some good team work from his players. The scenes from the psychiatric hospital – whilst amusing – felt a little uncomfortable to me. The audience laughed along but it was a bit muted at times.
After about 45 minutes there was an interval with music ranging from Pink Floyd to Gnarls Barkley. The second half started with a song. The sperm sketch went down well, the Court scene less so. Dragon’s Den (thank goodness we were up to date at last!) revealed some cracking impressions.
My friend and I agreed that it lacked energy and pace and even felt a bit laboured at times. And I can’t say it was non-stop laughter – more a series of wry smiles. Maybe the days of rehearsed gags are gone? I sorely missed the wacky spontaneity of his earlier work.
As I watched Michael McIntyre on the TV later in the evening I realised that Paul Merton hadn’t really seemed to be enjoying himself. And also that stand up these days is probably more about recounting amusing stories and clever observations on everyday events rather than sad reflections on your personal life. Paul Merton fans will no doubt enjoy the show – others may be a little disappointed.
There are some London dates later in the tour: http://paulmerton.com/
