Glee Club, Cardiff | Thurs 18 Mar
***
Chris Addison has a true knack for character-based comedy. As Ollie Reeder in razor-sharp political satire The Thick of It, he’s wonderful; he pulls off the role of Skins‘ slimy college principal David Blood with brilliantly Cameronian panache. He’s got a lot to live up to tonight – part of his first stand-up tour in five years – but he falls occasionally flat.
He takes to the stage palpably crackling with nervous energy; the first half often feels like little more than an extended warm-up. Topics such as being crap at sports at school and the embarrassments of the gym are moderately amusing fayre, but it’s not hard to rattle off a list of comedians who’ve already covered this ground. Being self-consciously, almost apologetically middle-class, too, is nothing new.
The second half is vastly more enjoyable; Addison appears to relaxed into his stride as he attacks the BNP. The way to overthrow them, apparently, would be for all of us to buy a golliwog from their website and then, en mass, send them back. His rant on his own intolerances, too, proves a high point, invoking a litany of petty, everyday gripes that are obviously shared by many. The Daily Mail, for one – let’s be honest: it makes all of us a little bit angry.
Sadly, just as Addison has really got going, it’s all over. His observations would undoubtedly brighten up any evening at the pub, but as a stand-up performance, you find yourself waiting for a pay-off that’s only intermittently delivered.