Live and Ungagged for Amnesty International

Amnesty is a great cause and I hope the night raised a lot of money and awareness. On the way into the Sands Centre, Carlisle, yesterday evening, everyone was asked to put their name and address on an individual paper heart (I think it was a heart), a petition in another form, calling for a public inquiry into the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989. This is something very close to my heart as I was in China in May/June 1989 as those demonstrations took place and spoke to many amazing, friendly people in the streets. Their optimism and hope was palpable and they were really beginning to believe that they would be allowed a voice. The tanks moved in as I was flying to Japan. I’ll never forget how horrified and upset I was as the news of the massacre came through... so I was initially slightly jolted but simply signed and went in. The petition closes on June 10th and can be found here.

The Sands Centre hall filled up nicely and the event seemed pretty much sold out. At first the introductory music and lighting was somewhat Blackpool cabaret with sparks cascading from the ceiling as Jason Manford, the MC for the evening trotted onstage. But actually that was quite tackily fun and made me smile even before any gags were told. I’ve seen Jason Manford three times now and find him a rather formulaic and typically 'northern comic' for me - I say that as a fellow northerner. He was definitely the man for the job on the night though and with that particular audience. They warmed to him fairly quickly and for the most part, he struck a fair balance between delivering his own material and moving things along.

First up was Russell Kane. As I’d seen his Edinburgh show last year and really loved it I was expecting good things. I was delighted that his set, which although not as strong as Edinburgh was certainly very funny and apart for one very brief reference, was all new to me and a lovely mix of physicality and turn of phrase.

Pete Firman was next, new to me and I have to admit I was not looking forward to him as ‘magician’ conjures (sorry) up feelings of dismay in me. However, he was not at all what I expected. Firstly he looked rather like a dapper Prince and had charmingly cheeky mannerisms. Happily for me it was definitely more for laughs and just the right amount of ‘not magic’ with a tiny hint of darkness/sickness and so I found it fun.

The final act of the first half was James Sherwood. I’d never seen him before but I will make an effort to see him perform again on the strength of this. He sat at the great sounding grand piano dissecting songs for their grammatical and mathematical inaccuracies and used punning to great effect. It was a truly nerdy and funny performance.

So the first half was very strong, too strong in fact as that left problems for the second half which kicked off with Robin Ince, a comedian I have now seen many times and find hilariously curmudgeonly. This time however he seemed to have difficulty finding the right note with that audience and swapped approach a few times. I enjoyed his set, although much of it was familiar to me, but the energy in the room dipped whilst he was on. I found this rather surprising as for me he was much more entertaining and interesting than Jason Manford who seemed disproportionately appreciated when he came on afterwards in his MC role.

The next performer did nothing to improve the atmosphere unfortunately: Mick Sergeant, a character creation did not go down well. I found him aggressive and totally unfunny I’m afraid and the weak laughter around me became increasingly uneasy as his set progressed. I think the character was supposed to make the audience feel uncomfortable and I have no problem with that but there has to be something likeable rather than pitiable in a character for me to find humour in it.

Fortunately, following some atmosphere repair work by the MC, the headliner Tim Minchin came on and just captured the room and lifted the energy straight away. I’ve seen him many times and I was pleased to see him chose a tight group of songs which linked together well and really suited the audience and time frame. His voice and the piano sounded brilliant. Perhaps because he’s not in the middle of a long tour and having to preserve his voice, he allowed himself even more soaring notes. “Prejudice” grabbed the audience attention straight away with its clever twist and wordplay and he received cheers and a round of applause as he introduced “If I didn’t have you” so I imagine many had seen footage of his performance of that at the Secret Policeman’s Ball last year. The R&B parody is a favourite of mine especially with the now fairly elaborate dance moves which I still have to refer to as The Wiggle. The talky bit was my favourite stand-up section from his current show and the audience loved it. “Confessions” went down a treat too with the audience nicely wrong footed several times and breaking into applause as it reached its conclusion.

Earlier, Pete Firman had crumbled a biscuit onstage and poor housekeeping during the interval meant that Tim ended up standing in biscuit crumbs for much of his set – complaining that he had “biscuit-toes”. Rather meanly, I suppose, I confess that I’m quite glad the Sands Centre appeared not to possess a dustpan and brush, as that was disproportionately funny. He finished with “Canvas Bags” and was beautifully spotlit in the beginning and then as the lights went sort of ‘disco’ he looked around all cheerily surprised. I’m used to seeing a fan brought on at the end of this song but this time it was a truly massive one on wheels! I was actually half expecting him to fly backwards into the back of the stage as he positioned himself in front of it but no, it did what was required without excessive blowiness. The blackout took forever to happen though and anyone familiar with the very end of this song can imagine Tim standing there for what seemed like ages, peeking through his arms but determinedly standing frozen, in the inexorable belief that the blackout would come eventually...and it did. We could hear Tim giggling as he ran offstage.

Every really good show should end with a giggle like that...

Fooling with canines...

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too."

Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

^ I know this to be true...


(To be read as him/her, he/she, himself/herself, or dogs/them/they/themselves really...so as not to offend)

Musical thought provocation – Spring Awakening

Last year in New York I had to make decisions about which shows to see in a very limited time frame. I looked at Spring Awakening only because I’d heard of it but I was put off seeing it as the booking agent answered my queries with her opinion that it was ‘a bit heavy’ and this gave me quite the wrong impression and not wanting ‘heaviness’ on my short trip I opted for Spamalot and the brilliant Tim Minchin’s Off Broadway show...erm the latter twice because it was ace but I reviewed that at the time...

If you haven’t seen it yet it’s up to you whether or not you read on past this paragraph: I talk about themes, styles and some song titles but not specifics but it could still influence your expectations if you plan to go and see it and that might lessen it for you ...just a little.

So, I finally managed to catch the matinee of Spring Awakening yesterday at the Novello theatre, London, before the run ended in the evening. I knew in general terms what it was about but I had deliberately stopped short of looking up reviews and the story detail before I went. I’m so glad I did because it surpassed my expectations and many of the themes jolted me. I was put off musicals for many years having been taken to some really asinine ones as a child and teenager, so this one tackling such raw subjects as a musical was startling and intriguing. I expected the themes of burgeoning sexuality and lust but not: incest, abuse, suicide, masturbation, scepticism, atheism, and suppression of ideas/ideals versus critical thinking and more. So it was about intellectual awakening too...

Given that I was expecting a ‘modern teen musical’, the setting surprised me - 19^th century Germany. The costumes and the dialogue jarred impossibly with the musical styles – pop ballads and rock tunes - brilliantly illustrating the contrast between the way these repressed young people were having to live and act with their inner turmoil, longing and rebellious anger.

There were many laughs too – particularly in the dialogue early on, in the sexual awkwardness of the young characters and in the set up for the rock tunes: “The Bitch of Living” and “Totally Fucked”. I loved the way, in the middle of a 19^th century classroom, the boys suddenly put down their slates and took microphones from inside their jackets to rock it out. These were my favourite songs of the show although some of the ballads were beautiful too: “The Word of your Body” particularly.

It was not all wonderful – whilst the staging was impressive I ended up giggling in serious bits (I was not the only one) as people rose up out of the floor or someone floated horizontally along a wall on a chair! – that was just distracting. The portrayal of the many adult characters by two actors and in short bursts was initially confusing to me until I got used it and whilst I loved most of the leaping dancing and rock star delivery some of the dancing seemed a bit over the top and fidgety as in parts of “Totally Fucked”.

At the end the cast received a well deserved standing-ovation for their talent and energy. They managed to make me snigger and laugh; think and empathise; go still with shock and disquiet (along with the rest of the audience); feel wistful and at the same time a sense of creeping doom and yet clap and tap my foot at some fun rock beats. So although not ‘heavy’ Spring Awakening could not be described as ‘light’ either. There was a lot to it but gratifyingly so. If there were more as daring and interesting as this, I might venture more often to see musical theatre.