REVIEW: Doug Stanhope in 'America is Awesome' Shocker!

Doug Stanhope has been touring the UK for several weeks now, and boy is he grumpy about it.

Playing to a not-quite-full Just the Tonic, much of his set consisted of world-weary grumblings about being on the road in Blighty, sleeping in bus stations, failing to fill theatres and how the only thing keeping him sane is watching his friend Henry have to experience British peculiarities for the first time. He even surprised us all by featuring a lengthy section on how great it is to live in America (needless to say, I was mortified!).

These curmudgeonly observations were mixed in with some more intelligent, 'social commentary' bits, but for me the high points were a couple of blisteringly filthy segments, including one fantasy about an American football player which had the audience hooting uncontrollably at the grotesquely detailed mental picture being painted.

A lot of people seem to see Doug Stanhope as something of a natural successor to Bill Hicks, and yes there are similarities in their approach to comedy. But I don't think either performer really benefits from the comparison, and if you haven't seen Stanhope yet I strongly recommend doing so, but without expecting him to be like anyone else. He is a unique performer and is justifiably thought of as a stand-up legend in his own right.

Also worth checking out is Stanhope's friend and support act Henry Phillips, whose 'amiable slacker' persona and wonderfully silly comic songs warmed the audience up nicely. My favourite has to be "Just Say 'Oops' and Move On" - check out an early version of the song here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAp4O9dxWbg

Legend alert!! Doug Stanhope in town tomorrow...

For any of you who have watched Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe in the last year or two, Doug Stanhope will be familiar to you from his 'Voice of America' segments ("I'm Doug Stanhope... and that's why I drink"). He's acerbic, unflinching, political, hypercritical, not afraid to say controversial and downright offensive things, and naturally I'm very excited about seeing him live at Just the Tonic tomorrow (Wednesday) night!
Obviously don't bring your grandmother, (unless she likes drunken, heavily un-PC ranting), but for those of you who delight in experiencing a heady mix of wrongness and intelligence, get yourself a ticket before they sell out!! They're not cheap at £20 + booking fee, but I'm guessing it's going to be worth it...
Head to http://www.justthetonic.com/Leicester-comedy/shows/wednesday-4-april-2012/724/ for tickets, and try not to be confused when you click on the link for tickets and get redirected to the website of Leicester Square Theatre, London!

Spoiler Alert! Daniel Kitson previews Edinburgh show

Reasons I Love Leicester, Number 47: I've been able to see stand-ups of the quality of Stewart Lee and Daniel Kitson within a week of each other, both within a couple of miles of where I eat, sleep and poo... AND Doug Stanhope's coming up very soon... AND it's not even Comedy Festival season any more! This city is clearly a hotspot for quality comedy right now, and Mr Kitson obviously felt as many others do, that Leicester was a good place to test out his latest Edinburgh Festival show, which he did to a very appreciative Just the Tonic audience last night.
This was something of a mock exam for his new show, and Kitson clearly needed to be able to concentrate to get through the entire 2-hour show without an interval. He brought notes with him which he referred to infrequently, stammered more during sections of the show he was less comfortable with and did not tolerate distractions from the audience. Hence the bar was closed during the performance and latecomers were warned in advance that they would not be admitted.
If all of this sounds like the opposite of a good time, it was more than balanced out by the quality of the material, and by the fact that you were seeing one of stand-up's greatest talents up close, in your home town, for a fiver. It would have been £12 according to Kitson, but there was no trademark life-affirming story arc to this show - it was more like a series of amusing musings on the nature of life, love and beards, delivered with a contrasting mixture of eye-opening insght, self-deprecating honesty and occasional feigned arrogance.
The opening section addressed his drastic change of appearance - freshly shorn of hair and beard, he explained how he was becoming too easily categorisable by his appearance (glasses and a beard - you must own a micro-brewery!). He also railed against the current comedy boom (don't hold your breath for a DVD release any time soon) and celebrated acts of defiance and those who swim against the current in all walks of life.
As it went on, the show became more anecdotal, as Kitson shared with us stories of unrequited love and pig-decapitation amongst other things. The themes of the night were loosely tied together at the end of the show, but not in a terribly satisfactory way - one senses he'll be doing some work on the ending before taking the show to Edinburgh in August.
All in all though, it was a very enjoyable two hours spent in the company of a master of his craft. It's difficult not to admire his intelligence and invention, and it's difficult not to respect the way he stays true to his art and refuses to let himself become popular, mainstream or commodified. True, the show in its current form was was rough and unfinished, but I for one will be seeking out the finished article if I make it up to Edinburgh this year.

Just the Tonic - the name says it all, really.

Obviously no self-respecting Leicester comedy enthusiast could fail to be wetting their pants with excitement about the new Just the Tonic club that's opened on Granby Street. The venue, formerly Highlight and before that Jongleurs, has an absolutely cracking line-up including big names such as Milton Jones, Ardal O'Hanlon, Ed Byrne and 'that sound effects bloke from Police Academy' himself, Michael Winslow! Also appearing in the coming weeks and months are critics' favourites Daniel Kitson and Doug Stanhope, the wonderful Boy with Tape on his Face, and my own personal favourite, Dr. George Ryegold, to name but a few.
For full listings, get yourself onto http://www.justthetonic.com/leicester-comedy/ immediately and start salivating...