It was the BBC radio light entertainment party this afternoon and thanks to my Objective series I got an invite for the first time for a while. I realise with a bit of a jolt that it is now 20 years since I first went to one of these. Back then I was astonished to be rubbing shoulders with such radio stalwarts as Nicholas Parsons and at least two of the Beverley Sisters. Now so much time has passed that I am the Beverley Sisters, at least to the young pups drinking their free Becks on the inconveniently sloping floor of the Radio Theatre. Or at least a blast from a distant radio past. To be fair the Beverley sisters were in their sixties even then. Nicholas Parsons, of course, might well still have been there today (though I didn't see him).
In those days I used to drink as much free booze as humanly possible and hope to get a snog with a PA. Once I had enough Dutch courage I also would feel confident enough to talk to one of my comedy heroes, Paul Merton, who was (as I have mentioned before) very patient with that crapulous young idiot. Today I was sober, so Mr Merton (who was there) and the PAs remained unpestered. A producer suggested there might be able to make a feature about giving up drinking. So maybe there will be a pay off to this abstinence after all.
I enjoyed catching up with some pals and was glad that I didn't disgrace or incapacitate myself as I had tickets in the evening to see a newer comedy hero, Tim Minchin at the O2 arena. I have been unconvinced by the wisdom of doing comedy in such large venues when before today, but Minchin took the problem head on, not only writing a song about how his own sense of self worth was more important than our enjoyment, but also by employing a symphony orchestra to accompany him. And by making these efforts and inserting some theatricality he did something that I thought I would never see, created a brilliant and even at times intimate gig in this cavern. And he did material that was intelligent, thoughtful and provocative (but in all the right ways - Frankie Boyle should take a look and see how it is done) and still had thousands of people who wanted to see him. The atmosphere couldn't have been any different to the last comedy gig I saw in this space, when Al Murray's audience seemed in danger of turning into a braying mob, without the patience to listen or watch anything that didn't immediately press one of their buttons. In some ways it probably shared more with a gig an evangelist might do in the same room, except that there was a rationalist and atheist agenda behind this gig, yet a stronger sense of morality and decency than you would find in most churches (despite the joyful expletive filled invective of his Pope song). It was comedy that challenged and yet united its audience, tugging at heart strings and brain strings. And the additional power provided by the orchestra blew us all away. Despite, for me, a slight dip in the middle of the second half (and a dip that only took us down to great, rather than fantastic) this was the greatest live comedy show I have ever seen, performed by a comedian who is continually raising the bar and for whom Daniel Kitson is the only serious challenger for best comic in the country. With most stadium gigs I would advise you to simply buy the DVD, because that is all you are doing when you're there - watching the screens. But if you possibly can then go and see this show live. If you only see one tour in the next six months then make it this one. Even if that means you don't come to mine.
I thought I had worked hard and achieved some stuff this year, but with this show, as well as the RSC's Matilda which has been getting rave reviews, Minchin has put me to shame. As a performer you can only watch something like this and think of giving up or having to try much, much harder. Luckily I tended towards the latter tonight. It was inspiring and joyous, not only making me laugh but making me content on a spiritual level. And words aren't really enough. We were in the presence of genius tonight. And it was especially gratifying to have seen these songs in their stripped down versions at the Lyric and now witnessing what they had become.
I wish I had worked a bit harder on my piano lessons now. But grade II ain't gonna cut it.
