Review: Chris Addison, York Grand Opera House (From York Press)

Review: Chris Addison, York Grand Opera House

8:16am Tuesday 6th December 2011 in Comedy

It took me a while to warm up to Chris Addison, and even then I found his comedy very hit-and-miss.

I’m not sure the idea of a “middle-class” persona really works – it’s too middle-of-the-road to me. He also didn’t seem to have very much of a stage presence, an issue which was exacerbated by his lack of a warm-up act.

There are a lot of very witty observations which stimulated the imagination as much as the funny bone, but there’s also a lot of very petulant political humour and some observational comedy that is let down by the quality of observation rather than the quality of comedy. At one point, the comic refers to Ed Miliband as having an “ornately feathered vagina”. Baffling.

The show certainly picked up in the second half, which was the home of some of the sharper local references and some audience interaction.

There are a few cracking moments – such as the revelation that the G8 leaders are all stereotypes – but the narrative thread is tortuous; it’s easy to get a bit lost in what is, ultimately, a loosely structured couple of hours.

Overall, I found Chris Addison’s comedy to be as hit-and-miss as his persona was inconsistent.

He seems like a very nice, chatty, and relatively amusing guy, but in the nicest way possible I would question whether he’s really cut out for stand-up; I'd like to hang out with Chris Addison, and be friends with him – but the thought of seeing him onstage again is a lot less appealing.

- James Harle