The Other Type of Comic

Last weekend I went to see Stewart Lee in Northampton with a couple of mates – and have to say I was decidedly unimpressed. He’s the third or fourth comic that I’ve seen in the last few years that has not lived up to expectations – others being Jason Byrne, Dylan Moran and Ed Byrne.

I’m not quite sure why this is. Stewart Lee made a fair point about over-sanitised comedy being responsible for influencing how we laugh – and to an extent I agree with him. He had a go at Michael McIntyre, Live at the Apollo and Mock the Week specifically. I can see his point – but as someone who is unashamedly anti-establishment, there is a distinct risk of it sounding like sour grapes.

I have seen him several times before and have always liked him, so perhaps it was an off day. Or, even more likely, perhaps it was just me.

However I think the trick of playing parts of the audience off against each other and continually barracking the audience, as though they are from a strange, abnormal sect is, whilst superficially clever, obvious and overdone. In fact, Jason Byrne and Dylan Moran both did the exact same thing.

Stewart Lee’s patter about him preferring gigs when he was less popular and when people ‘didn’t bring their mates’ is apparently intended to be bulletproof – as anyone that criticises him simply can’t be correct for the self evident reasons that he states. The one problem is that, unfortunately, it just wasn’t funny. He insisted that if you didn’t like him you probably just didn’t get it, as though his humour was exclusively for a select group of initiates. I think that’s a fairly suspect line of logic personally.

So, it all seemed a bit dated to me, to be honest, which is perhaps the problem. Either I’m getting jaded or some well regarded comics are not developing with – or ahead of – their audience.

So, I have to say, whilst it’s always good to spend a Saturday night at a live event and I’d do so over watching something at home, it just didn’t do it for me.

NB – In the spirit of fair mindedness, two of my colleagues were at the same event and both loved it. As I say, there’s a distinct possibility that I’m the odd one out here…

Up Periscope

I’m emerging from the longest period of being away from work since we started the company in August 2003 – an unprecedented (almost) three weeks – and feel fantastic for it, particularly by comparison to how I have felt on returning from the Christmas break in previous years.

We took the week before Christmas off to go abroad, very fortuitously missing the winter snow and many, though not all, of the bugs that seemed to cut through the entire UK population – and landed late on December 23rd. A late night visit to M&S that evening saw us through to about Boxing Day and, apart from the odd social activity, mostly for my girls, I’ve not really surfaced.

Those that know me know that I do spend pretty much every waking moment online, so I’ve been extremely harsh with myself over the last few weeks and have limited access to email to virtually zero, with the odd exception of a personal mail which I was expecting and ensuring that armageddon hasn’t ensued whilst I was looking in the other direction. The result is that I feel hugely positive and able to deal with the notorious first day back – tomorrow – with relative ease.

So, just ploughing through a backlog of mail and tidying things up before we kick off 2011.

The Wrong Kind of Petrolhead

There are people within the Punch team that are petrolheads – the kind that tend to like car valves, exhausts and alloys a little more than is deemed normal by most people. I’m not one of them. To me, cars are something that get one from A to B with the minimum of hassle – and preferably in a bit of comfort if possible.

However, once a year, I get to be a petrolhead of a different kind. The kind that likes bonfires and blowing things up.

To be honest, I know that I’m not alone in this – quite a lot of my friends are the same, particularly the guys. Bonfire night has a magic for me that has not changed through the years. And, with the kids now around, I get to do it all legitimately.

In years past I have thrown the odd bonfire party. It’s usually me that’s lurking around, waiting to launch the next rocket. And indeed I confess that it has been known for me to throw petrol onto the odd fire in the vicinity on such an occasion.

I always get excited about bonfire night.

So, I’ve just been out and bought two pairs of ear defenders for the kids, a pair of ear muffs for the missus and a large box of artillery ‘for myself’ – which all makes for a rocking Friday night in my book.

I might even make a weekend of it.

I Have A Confession…

We’ve been out buying Harry Potter lego.
It’s all under the guise of being a parent of course and I do admit that I do have certain leanings towards ‘buying the set’ (which I haven’t done, I hasten to add here – although it took some restraint on my part) – but there is a genuine pleasure in finding something that enables one to engage on a completely level playing field with your child.

We’ve had lego before of course – I did write a post about it earlier this year (this is what my eldest daughter and I built whilst on holiday). Still, she’s a little older now and we can actually sit down to do it together, rather than me doing it and her watching. There’s alway a bit of a race for who can find the right piece first (usually not me) and we seem to have fallen into a pattern. It’s sort of how one hopes one’s relationship will be, sharing and collaborating on activities, as they get older i guess.

So, we’ve built both Hogwarts and ‘The Burrow’ (I know, I know). I’ve been told that if I’m good I may be able to get ‘Hagrids Hut’ for Christmas.