25% off first 'FFS' razor subscription box + free engraving
Friction Free Shaving is a monthly subscription box so you're always using a fresh blade each time for better, smother results. The first box includes a top notch razor and they'll shave off the £5 engraving fee during March and April too. FFS are offering a 25% reduction to our readers (£6.75 instead of £9). Use code MAR25 at the checkout. For more details click on the banner below:
Suggs: What a King Cnut ★★★★
Tyne
Theatre & Opera House
Monday
26th March 2018
Graham McPherson comes across as a natural
raconteur, a warm people’s person, a celebrity who still has his roots firmly
embedded in the region that put him there. A follow up to his successful show “My Life Story”, this takes the story of one
man and his band a step further. The resultant show makes the audience regularly
laugh, so much so it would put some comics to shame.
Suggs appears wearing a white coat and a black long
haired wig, sitting on a throne. After a brief summary of King Canute’s
downfall he springs up and starts describing the life of a star at Glastonbury.
He is good at annoying the other artists interspersed with annoying his
daughters who are doing the posh camping thing with him. But then there’s the
downer of having to leave the free hospitality behind in order to do an
interview in a tent for the Guardian newspaper.
The wig and coat disappear and he brings the story
back to the beginning – living in a flat with his Mum, a jazz singer, in Camden.
With a mother working late at night and being from a tough neighbourhood, the
need to survive and find a path was coupled with meeting people who wanted to
form a band. This was in the post punk 70s and Suggs recalls both the difficulties
in getting the band, plus their instruments, together and coping with gigs in a
lively time when it could easily kick off soon. There was also the issue of
earning enough money which led him to trying a number of day jobs. These
stories work as you can imagine him trying to get by on the gift of the gab and
good humour. Of course, the firm foundations of where they were from helped
establish Madness as a major chart act as the lyrics were easy to relate to for
anyone in a similar situation at the time. Even the last 2 albums are rooted in
the comings and goings in NW5 and, accompanied by his pianist Deano, he sings
some of the more recent songs such as Blackbird plus a couple of the classics like My Girl and Our House. Deano is a very good pianist and the stripped-down
nature of a sole accompaniment often gives a new prominent edge to the lyrics.
The stories run through the closing ceremony of
London 2012, attending Chelsea games such as the FA Cup final and European
games in Liverpool. Each anecdote comes with subtly different lighting. The
very funny yarn spinner soon gets to his time presenting on radio and appearing
on the roof of Buckingham Palace. Two themes run through the second act: one
involving hair and the other involving family but I won’t spoil the surprise by
revealing anything here. Needless to say, both strands add a diversity and a
spirit to the tales that can be missing in some stand up comic routines.
Suggs is very good at story telling. At times self-deprecating,
at others waxing lyrically about his own ego, he never loses the audience and
they hang on to his every word. The show works well as he has something interesting
to say but he doesn’t expect any judgement from the audience. You are left
thinking you could happily spend more time listening to him. His
warmth radiated across the venue. This is a cracking show.
Review by Stephen Oliver
Photos: Joanne Oliver www.jowheretogo.com
The comedy continues at the Tyne Theatre & Opera
House this week with Phoenix Nights star Dave Spikey: Juggling on a Motorbike
Tour on Thursday 29th March 2018
Tickets are available from our affiliate Eventim UK:
http://bit.ly/2h3sEiA
Brilliant night. Suggs is a natural entertainer
ReplyDelete