Venue:
Civic Theatre, Auckland
Date: 26/05/2021
Ben Elton now lives in Australia most of the time and when the NZ:AUS bubble became a reality – a tour of NZ venues happened last month.
To give a little bit of context ladies and gentlemen most visiting acts will come to Auckland certainly and might also perform in Wellington and/or Christchurch/Dunedin. Ben did 13 venues and multiple shows. Bill Baliey has also been here for an extended time recently.
Ben Elton’s live act is him, alone on stage, talking non-stop for 90 minutes. Then there’s an interval and he’s on for another hour. Logistically, it must be the easiest show in the world to put together.
The themes are old age and how society has changed so quickly. He talks of an episode of the The Thin Blue Line being shown after the 9pm watershed because the words ‘cock’ and ‘arse’ were used in a joke.
Twenty years later and the opening scene of Fleabag is about anal sex…while the main character is having…anal sex. If you Imagine the pace and volume at which Elton speaks and the pauses, you can hopefully appreciate how funny that is. A great deal of the humour is double-take incredulity over the way things are now.
By way of explanation. he claims that 20 years passed while bringing up children and then he returned to mainstream entertainment to observe these things. I think the comedian in him concocted that scenario a bit because being a parent isn’t 24/7 Wiggles for years at a time.
He breaks off into politics, as you’d expect, but the themes are more global and society-based now. He makes jokes that Bernard Manning would make about things like gender issues but surrounds it with self-effacement and cast iron disclaimers – but I get the feeling that he still wants to make the Bernard Manning joke. This is a way to crossover to the politically right-of-centre majority.
The audience:
“Switch off your phones. Please. I really don’t care about your children – or, let’s be honest…your GRANDchildren.” Not for the first time I am part of an audience of old people and I do not fully take on board that I am one of them.
It made me think..
Humans are amazingly flexible and resilient and we cope with changing circumstances easily. Observational comedy pretends we don’t have this natural talent and highlights extreme examples of societal change from the cartoonish perspective of a monocled Victorian Dad. We find it funny because overall, we’re OK with what’s happening. If the same material isn’t played for laughs
it would be possible to whip up a crowd for political gain, so I am thankful that Ben Elton is using his talents for good.
I appreciate your review. Darling of the alternative comedy scene who then made a musical about bloody Queen!
When I was a fan of his (about 35 years ago) I was never much of a fan of his stand-up, never seemed completely natural to me, came across as forced. I guess I thought he was a fake, these days though there are worse things to be.
I loved the energy and wit of his tv stand up, and the double seat skit still stands out as a brilliant observation of British sensibilities.
Yeah the double seat one was one I remembered.
Last year I digitised his Motormouth live album which is still a masterpiece. Really funny from end to end.
I saw him at Portsmouth guildhall in 93 & I thought he was brilliant, far funnier than his
‘Right on’ image.
Anyone who co-wrote Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, and Blackadder Goes Forth will always be all right with me.
he also wrote much of the Young Ones and a splendid time travel novel called Time After Time that’s well worth reading
Refreshingly happy to send himself ups too – as his starring role in Harry Enfield’s Benny Elton sketch from way back in the 1990s shows
Re: Time and Time Again (at least, that’s the US title) – I just read the first three chapters on Amazon and bought it. Very intriguing!
I didn’t realize he’d written so many novels.
Big call moving to Western Australia to be with wife who hails from there. Obviously not all ego.
Never quite understood how he became a comic hate figure to his peers in the UK comedy scene, where the likes of Alexei Sayle and Adrian Edmondson still regard him as a hopeless sellout on the basis that he became a very successful script and novel writer, and for working in popular musical theatre which means associating with creepy arch Tories Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
For a man who was the stroppy public face of left wing alt new comedy in his youth, he is now seen by many as some type of class traitor.
Certainly he has been the most financially successful of his group of first wave British alternative comedians, and he seems to be permanently resented for it. A strange, but very British, reaction.
I saw him at Worthing on his return to stand-up tour (pre Covid) and thought he was excellent. For a man who hadn’t stood on a stage and told jokes for nearly twenty years, he was engaging, personable and very funny.
Alexei Sayle is quite a good example of why it’s a good idea to separate art and artist. Hilarious in his day, but you need to mark off the days on which he expresses a reasonable opinion on a special calendar. Absolute full-on tankie.
Saying that, Ben Elton’s main offence as I see it has never been selling out: it’s been that he became suddenly and utterly unfunny in approx 1989. I don’t mind that he did a musical about Queen: I love Queen. I do mind that it’s unbelievably, *unbelievably* bad. Nothing wrong with a bit of popular commercial success, but man alive.
I’ve not read his books, but between We Will Rock You and the medically unchucklesome Upstart Crow, I’ve not seen any evidence that he’s likely to relocate his talent any time soon, until this review. Here’s hoping!
I saw him live once as a double bill with Rik Mayall. To be honest he blew Mayall off the stage. However I thought his time had long gone.
I read two of his novels one of which was about fertility treatment.I thought they were both pretty average to be honest.
Upstart Crow just doesn’t work at all, does it? I want to like it because it’s David Mitchell, but I suspect he is the only reason that the BBC have recommissioned it.
It should be right in my wheelhouse. Shakespeare! David Mitchell! But as it stands, I’ve heard funnier news of family illness.
Alexei Sayle was on Desert Island Discs recently. I wasn’t sure what to make of him as he seemed to be in performance mode. Maybe he can’t switch it off.
I think that’s probably true of a lot of comedians. Their clown is the only way they can do public facing stuff. Understandable enough, especially when you speculate what kind of personality and psychological factors must contribute to wanting to do that for a living.
“It’s me nerves” 😏
Livin’ in the Jag… absolutely fantastic…
The first series of ‘Stuff’ has some fantastic – err – stuff on it, like ‘Einstein, Kepple and Betty’. Series 2 and 3 weren’t as good, and I suspect that Renwick and Marshall’s contribution to S1 was rather higher than the others.
‘Who is that fat bastard?’
“I’m Dick Van Dyke, hope you are too!”
‘S-e-x-x-x. . .’
NSF Tinita Tikaram fans…
I briefly joined a Sayle page on FB. There were Tory trolls on it. Even there. There’s no escape.
Considering these people burble on about the virtues of hard work* they do seem to spend an awful lot of time on social media.
(*you’d never catch me doing that)
Thought he was pretty genuine, there appeared to be tears at one point. Came across as being pretty pompous though and seemed happy to take credit for the success of stand up comedians these days.
I’ve been listening to his podcasts. I don’t have to agree with his politics to enjoy them, which I do immensely.
I also loved all his books, with a special fondness for his short story ‘The Last Woman Killed In The War’ which was dramatized for Radio 4.
He’s very happy to send himself up and not to hide his own lack of knowledge when he interviews people for our, and his benefit.
I like Upstart Crow, and think it the best thing Elton has been involved with since Blackadder by some way.
One thing which I don’t think has been listed on the charge sheet yet is the time he hosted the Royal Variety Performance and made such a toadying, fake blokey ‘you lot’ address to Charles that the nation nearly cringed it’s collective pelvis out.
I agree, I think Upstart Crow is very funny and very clever. Also very moving in places, and spiky too, poking some contemporary political tropes for a giggle.
My 15 year old daughter is rehearsing for a school production of We Will Rock You. Somebody told Ben Elton and he filmed a short message to thank them and they all watched it the other day . She just knows him as the writer of the musical.
My kid’s school did that and the cast had a blast. One or two of the older ones were really quite good, even though the songs can be demanding. It helped that they were able to use a lot of sound, video and lighting to enhance the production.
Say what you will about observational comedy, but Ben Elton is still the only comedian that has managed to make me laugh so hard that I actually fell off a chair onto the floor. Not a regular chair either; an armchair! Quite difficult to fall down from. Not only that; while lying on the floor laughing I was also blushing all over, thinking to myself: “Has Ben Elton been visiting my flat whilst invisible, observing the way I behave?” I wasn’t totally convinced that the answer to that question was no… (No, I won’t tell you which routine it was – it would tell you way too much about me, and not in a flattering way!)
Ben Elton is funny. He says funny things, writes funny things for his books and for TV. He can come across as a bit of a knob but for Blackadder, The Young Ones, those books and some of the funniest stand up I’ve seen he’s allowed to be.
My view as well. I saw him on the tour with Rik Mayall in 1983/4 and he was clearly the better comedian at the time.
Rik wasn’t a comedian who could sustain an evening of stand-up (oo-er), his characters were in explosive five minute bursts,(ooooo-er) isn’t that right Armchair Britain? Mess around, Torquil!!
You are right. He has some Brummy based character at the time I recall called Kevin which was fun for about 5 minutes.
Kevin Turvey. And he came from Redditch.
Rik was a comic actor rather than a stand up. He could inhabit a character, but rarely presented himself on stage. What you saw was his exaggerated ego with different accents.
Kevin Turvey, Rick, Ritchie Rich, Richard Richard, Alan B’Stard, Flashheart – all similar products of Rik’s ego and delivered absolutely brilliantly.
His “Do You Like Me?” song as Rick was possibly the funniest thing I have seen on a stage.
Re: “good for five minutes” – the supreme irony of the “Comedy is the new rock ‘n’ roll” Baddiel and Newman at Wembley era is that rock ‘n’ roll long ago recognised that some acts are a two month novelty and some of the greatest singles artists never made a top hole album. If what you’re good at is making sketch comedy or incendiary five minute guest spots on late night tv, that’s okay. I suppose, like the way great U.S. stand ups always want to prove themselves as movie actors, it’s as much about chasing big wedge as it is professional achievement..
In the old days of the music hall, you could build an entire career on ten minutes worth of material. Insert joke about your least favourite band or artist here.
I don’t remember many reviews from decades back but I do recall someone’s description from years gone by of him, maybe even someone on this blog. They described his standup as…
“Like being cornered by a drunk in a pub”
I once reviewed a Julie Burchill book and came to the conclusion that it was like being stuck in a lift with a gobby 6-year-old.
She sounds like a six year old. She can’t help that.
She’s an arsehole. She can help that.
She’s an arsehole who doesn’t seemed to have mellowed with age. (Can arseholes mellow?)
I think the verb you want here is “slacken”.
But “want” might not be the verb I want.
Arseholes can be subject to atrophy.
That sounds very painful, especially if it’s the type with handles.
I absolutely loved his novel Stark when I was 17. Its probably unreadable now. Don’t think I’ve seen, heard or read him solo since then. Possibly have the same prejudice as his peers.
I never forgave Stark for the hideous grammar on the back cover, before I had read a word of the text*. From memory, it read ‘Stark has more money than God. What’s more they know the Earth is dying.’ Ouch!
* Buy me a pint some time and I’ll tell you what a rep for his then former publisher told me about his writing process. It’s not something I would commit to print without sound advice from a lawyer.
“The blank and empty page taunting me…. I’m stretched on the rack of my own genius!”
I was at that same show as BC and I was in hysterics pretty much the entire time. I was not expecting this. Haven’t followed BE’s career that closely since the 80s, so didn’t have any great expectations. It may only be observational humour – McIntyre on steroids – but his delivery is as fast and furious as ever. And because he still mixes in “a bit of politics”, he’s actually making a point while making us laugh. Quite brilliant, actually.