Al Murray's Pub Landlord is Back With A Whole New Show

The Only Way Is Epic is an appropriate name, not only for Al Murray’s new tour but his whole stand-up career so far. Take last year’s Barrel of Fun tour for example – it was so successful it was extended twice, and The Only Way is Epic looks set to follow suit.

But after decades in the comedy game, how much more has the 44-year-old got to say? Lots, as it turns out. “I never think, God, how can I fill the show. That’s never a problem,” he says.

Instead the Landlord will be tackling the subject of Broken Britain: “That this is the greatest country in the world and still think that we’re rubbish. Even the Olympics haven’t managed to wipe out the idea that we’re not very good at things.

“So The Landlord will attempt to save the country and thinks that we can’t go on blaming the government for everything. It’s not like football, where you can always blame the manager.”

And yet, there’s obviously a personal view point in there somewhere? “I think politicians are funny, and this is picking that apart,” Al explains. “Our present generation of politicians may as well have worked in a bar as anywhere else, for all the life experiences they have. They have only ever been special advisers before becoming MPs. So someone who works in a pub is as likely to get it right as anyone else.

“And besides, the Landlord can hold that contradiction in his hand which lets you approach things from any angle, and proves itself over and over again. You can contradict yourself in back-to-back sentences, and contradictions are always funny.”

Of course the key to the Landlord is that even though he thinks he’s talking perfect sense, he’s usually spouting complete nonsense. “I have no issue with nonsense,” laughs Al. “The Landlord has to defeat himself. He always manages to tie himself in knots with his arguments. Some people say the act is rabble-rousing and think audiences take it at face value. But he is a dribbling, self-contradictory idiot, so I don’t mind if people take that at face value.”

Another reason that the Landlord works so well on stage is because Al knows his alter ego inside out: “I can feed anything into the character now. I know him so well that I know what he thinks about any subject,” he agrees.

So is he worried about offending anyone? “This year I have been watching the debate about what you can and can’t say in comedy with increasing astonishment. I find it absurd, peculiar, self-serving and nonsensical. There is such ridiculous machismo when comedians declare, ‘I’m going to say something edgier than any of you would dare say’. Oh, shut up, you pompous jackass!

“The problem with the idea of ‘edge’ is that if the audience expect you to be edgy, then you’re not being edgy at all. The people who say the whole point of comedy is to push boundaries are wrong. The point is to make people laugh.”

Which is what Al’s about to do and is delighted to be back on the road. “What I love is that it’s different every night. I want the audience to feel that tonight’s the night, and unlike any other show, and that’s amazingly exciting.

“Put it this way, the audience knows that they are getting 100 per cent effort from me, rather than feeling that it’s just another routine evening.” I doubt Al Murray’s Pub Landlord will ever become routine though? “If I ever got stuck and had to resort to greatest hits, I would stop performing live. But that shows no sign of happening,” straight from the Pub Landord’s mouth.

• Al Murray, The Pub Landlord’s The Only Way is Epic comes to Oxford’s New Theatre tomorrow night
• Call the box office on 0844 8713020 or see atgtickets.com/oxford