It’s not an auspicious start to Jack Whitehall’s show when he opens with a crude mime about hard, soft and “thumbing it in” Brexit. Of course, no one’s here for political insight: notwithstanding that he has always come across as the Conservative party in standup form, the state of the world has never been Whitehall’s concern. But even by his own flimsy standards, Stood Up is thin gruel from the 31-year-old, with one flouncing routine after another about diarrhoea, wanking, farting and photographs of his inflamed anus.
Two hours of exposure to that photograph could scarcely be more dispiriting than Whitehall’s touring set, which combines puerility, hack joke-writing and rampant inauthenticity in equal measure. The latter doesn’t concern his poshness, that is as complacently upfront a feature as ever.
And ends:
No 3D personality arises from these by-numbers jokes, nor any sense of an interest in people or the world. Environmentalism is lightly mocked; there’s a chirpy Auschwitz punchline and a routine about how to speak to people with a lazy eye. And then there’s all those jokes about pooing in the swimming pool, pooing at Chernobyl, farting in front of his ex, farting in a urinal. That Whitehall’s show is full of crap becomes, by the end, less matter of opinion than statement of irrefutable fact.Even allowing for the reviewer obviously having a political objection to Whitehall, it does appear that it may be just another case of a comedian I can find OK in some contexts, but put them on stage in stand up, and I don't like much at all.
(I see that The Telegraph reviewer gave the same show 4/5 stars - but I can't read the whole thing.)
As for his Netflix series Travels with My Father - even my son has lost interest with the latest series (set in America), and he has a higher tolerance for crude humour than me. The show quickly developed far too many scripted bits pretending to be real.
I'd never heard of him - not trusting that Grauniad review (because they practically have their politics stamped on their forehead, the G writers) I went and looked him up on YouTube. I found some annoying clips from his Netflix special - not very funny, and he is *very* posh sounding - and a better clip from a US talk show (Fallon, I think). Interestingly, in the US stand up he affects a more working class accent. So thank you for introducing him to me, now I can go back and forget him again.
ReplyDeleteI think he is perhaps fairly well known internationally because of the 3 Netflix series, in which he travels around various parts of the glove place with his rather old father, who used to work as an actors' agent yet has a crusty old Tory establishment persona (although with a rather ribald sense of humour.) It was one of those shows which was enjoyable enough in the first series; started to appear strained in the second, and the format had outworn its welcome by the third.
ReplyDeleteHe also appeared in the Amazon version of Good Omens and was likeable enough in a key role.
He often verges on camp in his behaviour - my brother and his wife assumed he was gay, in fact - but he does seem to only have straight relationships in real life.