Tim Hughes enjoys a five-star performance from a 'disarmingly candid' Marcus Brigstocke
If you’re a fan of radio comedy, then, chances are, you’re also a fan of Marcus Brigstocke.
A familiar voice on Radio 4, his pithy observations on life’s annoyances and, more frequently, blistering diatribes on Government policy and the inequity of capitalism, have made him one of our most important comedians and satirists, a staple on The Now Show, The Museum of Everything, I’ve Never Seen Star Wars, The Brig Society and his own Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off — a parody of a posh twit out of touch with the world.
TV credits include The Late Edition and Argumental. Yes, he’s funny, but he’s also angrily political — left-wing, green, politically correct and generally ‘right-on’. So it comes as a surprise to see him on stage doing accents. And not just any accents: Nigerian, Indian, Japanese... and chav!
“Accents are not racist,” he tells us. “They are just noises!” And he’s right — though he acknowledges the awkwardness felt by those who only know him through his Radio 4 shows. It’s clear we are seeing a different Brigstocke; less the tub-thumping liberal leftie, and more the, well... funnyman — with blazing asides on the privatisation of the NHS and the folly of voting UKIP to remind us of the Daily Mail-hating comedian we thought we knew.
The show is titled Je M’Accuse – I Am Marcus, and his own life story forms the theme. He is disarmingly candid about his early life. His battles with overeating and addiction are heart-rending but also tragically hilarious, as is his confession that, yes, he was a West Country goth... though not a very good one — preferring, when not trying to squeeze his big hair into a hat for his job at a Little Chef, to sit around in churchyards having a laugh and eating pasties rather than being miserable and looking pasty. He finishes with tales from his short-lived careers as podium dancer and oil rig worker. Even if not true, they’re very funny, but, of course, they are. What emerges is a portrait of a very different Marcus Brigstocke to the pontificating darling of the liberal left. A man of integrity, honesty, armed with a love of the ridiculous and that greatest of comedic gifts, an ability to laugh loudly at himself. And we laughed with him. Mind you, those accents are uncanny!
Marcus Brigstocke
Oxford Playhouse
Also at The Theatre, Chipping Norton, Dec 1. Tickets £16 — 01608 642350/ chippingnortontheatre.co.uk
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