Andy Parsons: The Lowry, Salford. Review by Craig Jones
It’s often been said that stand-up comedy is the new rock ’n’ roll, so it seems appropriate that the Lowry is filled with a soundtrack of heavy guitar-based rock, including The Kings of Leon, The Strokes and The Cribs, as anticipation mounts for comedian Andy Parsons’ Salford appearance on his 40-date tour.
The question is: can the Mock The Week regular live up to the build-up?
A prolonged period of darkness descends on the auditorium before a suave blue-shirted figure draws attention to the venue’s décor. Parsons says: “Good evening I’m very happy to be here at Britain’s most purple venue.”
He gets a reassuring laugh from the varied audience of old and young before a bewildered stare at the vacant seats slap bang in the centre of the front row. This is rather odd considering the theatre’s three tiers are packed but the former Spitting Image writer doesn’t let it faze him as his act gets into full flow.
Parsons, scheduled at the Lowry between Shaun The Sheep and Peppa Pig, gives many thoughtful reflections about the current state of the economy and the government.
He mocks: “Let me get this straight, we had all this fuss about getting Brown out of Number 10 and then the great British public elect a coalition of blue and gold. Forgive me if I’m wrong but doesn’t that make brown?”
No one is safe from the Edinburgh Festival regular’s observations as he sticks the boot into David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Sir Alan Sugar, giving a unique take on how he’d handle that dreaded boardroom firing with the entrepreneur.
Parsons, who began his Gruntled tour in February, has a deceptively cheery delivery to his often dark punchlines and social commentary.
His views on the London Olympics are a fitting example. “I don’t think anyone other than Seb Coe thinks the Olympics are going to go well. I’m sure I’ll wait weeks to find out I’ve not got a ticket to a good event but I’ll still go on our second-rate transport system, then I’ll get there in a never ending queue eating a half-cooked burger, drinking a pint that cost a fiver and then, when I finally get in, I’ll be sat next to two fat thighed people. Then in front of me I’ll have the tallest man to have ever lived who’ll probably have an obnoxious kid with ADHD.”
As the interval nears the bald comedian speaks of a coalition he’d like to see, rather than the current government – the hairless and the ginger joining forces to rule Britain as Parsons’ Vegetable Party – the potato heads and the carrot tops.
During the break the audience sit back in their cosy purple seats as they get a chance to dry the tears from a hilarious opening 50 minutes.
In the second period Parsons gets even more at home with the audience, revealing how previous reviews have described him as a ‘bullet headed funnyman’, ‘potato headed panellist’ and ‘a well-informed veg seller’. In all honesty he’s more like a laidback Pierluigi Collina with all the knowledge of a chirpy Cockney taxi driver who tackles hard-hitting issues like the recession, religion and the cuts but never fails to get a laugh.
It’s amazing to think how high the former Cambridge Footlights student’s star has risen since he debuted on Mock The Week. It is abundantly clear he appreciates how the show, which he describes as ‘a frantic war zone’ has changed his career, propelling him out of shabby clubs into beautiful theatres the length and breath of the county.
As Parsons’ show comes to its conclusion he gives a memorable anecdote from when he was recently in Scotland and found a pair of underpants in a jar of mayonnaise he bought. When he complained he was accused of planting them himself!
Parsons leaves the stage to The Enemy’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ which somehow fits nicely with his closing gags about happiness. The audience, clearly rejoicing after a magnificent evening of fun and topical cheer, conga to the music up the aisles out of the Lowry and into the concrete jungle of Salford Quays.
Posted on www.thenatter.co.uk
It’s often been said that stand-up comedy is the new rock ’n’ roll, so it seems appropriate that the Lowry is filled with a soundtrack of heavy guitar-based rock, including The Kings of Leon, The Strokes and The Cribs, as anticipation mounts for comedian Andy Parsons’ Salford appearance on his 40-date tour.
The question is: can the Mock The Week regular live up to the build-up?
A prolonged period of darkness descends on the auditorium before a suave blue-shirted figure draws attention to the venue’s décor. Parsons says: “Good evening I’m very happy to be here at Britain’s most purple venue.”
He gets a reassuring laugh from the varied audience of old and young before a bewildered stare at the vacant seats slap bang in the centre of the front row. This is rather odd considering the theatre’s three tiers are packed but the former Spitting Image writer doesn’t let it faze him as his act gets into full flow.
Parsons, scheduled at the Lowry between Shaun The Sheep and Peppa Pig, gives many thoughtful reflections about the current state of the economy and the government.
He mocks: “Let me get this straight, we had all this fuss about getting Brown out of Number 10 and then the great British public elect a coalition of blue and gold. Forgive me if I’m wrong but doesn’t that make brown?”
No one is safe from the Edinburgh Festival regular’s observations as he sticks the boot into David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Sir Alan Sugar, giving a unique take on how he’d handle that dreaded boardroom firing with the entrepreneur.
Parsons, who began his Gruntled tour in February, has a deceptively cheery delivery to his often dark punchlines and social commentary.
His views on the London Olympics are a fitting example. “I don’t think anyone other than Seb Coe thinks the Olympics are going to go well. I’m sure I’ll wait weeks to find out I’ve not got a ticket to a good event but I’ll still go on our second-rate transport system, then I’ll get there in a never ending queue eating a half-cooked burger, drinking a pint that cost a fiver and then, when I finally get in, I’ll be sat next to two fat thighed people. Then in front of me I’ll have the tallest man to have ever lived who’ll probably have an obnoxious kid with ADHD.”
As the interval nears the bald comedian speaks of a coalition he’d like to see, rather than the current government – the hairless and the ginger joining forces to rule Britain as Parsons’ Vegetable Party – the potato heads and the carrot tops.
During the break the audience sit back in their cosy purple seats as they get a chance to dry the tears from a hilarious opening 50 minutes.
In the second period Parsons gets even more at home with the audience, revealing how previous reviews have described him as a ‘bullet headed funnyman’, ‘potato headed panellist’ and ‘a well-informed veg seller’. In all honesty he’s more like a laidback Pierluigi Collina with all the knowledge of a chirpy Cockney taxi driver who tackles hard-hitting issues like the recession, religion and the cuts but never fails to get a laugh.
It’s amazing to think how high the former Cambridge Footlights student’s star has risen since he debuted on Mock The Week. It is abundantly clear he appreciates how the show, which he describes as ‘a frantic war zone’ has changed his career, propelling him out of shabby clubs into beautiful theatres the length and breath of the county.
As Parsons’ show comes to its conclusion he gives a memorable anecdote from when he was recently in Scotland and found a pair of underpants in a jar of mayonnaise he bought. When he complained he was accused of planting them himself!
Parsons leaves the stage to The Enemy’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ which somehow fits nicely with his closing gags about happiness. The audience, clearly rejoicing after a magnificent evening of fun and topical cheer, conga to the music up the aisles out of the Lowry and into the concrete jungle of Salford Quays.
Posted on www.thenatter.co.uk
