Review: Brendon Burns: Y’know – Love ‘n’ God ‘n’ Metaphysics ‘n’ Sh*t – Middlesbrough Town Hall Crypt
Brendon Burns
Brendon Burns brought his 2010 solo tour to Middlesbrough tonight, an opportunity that I could not have missed having seen the offering in its original Edinburgh Festival run. Now Burns is on the road with an extended set, sans the distracting acoustic guitar accompaniment he had during the Fringe. The Crypt in Middlesbrough’s Town Hall was by no means packed on this occasion, a shame considering the comedic ability Burns has to offer with a large crowd, but the Monday night audience was lively enough to persevere and contend with an energy drink charged Burns tonight.
He is a man who expects a certain level of intelligence and open mindedness from his audience when on a solo tour, and while sometimes certain punters may misinterpret his intentions or fail to follow his train of thought, tonight’s Middlesbrough crowd were largely on board for the journey and happy to take whatever thoughts Burns threw out at them.
The show is not to everyone’s taste, and will appal Middle England with Burns’ ironic and subversive opinions on contentious and possibly offensive topics. He no doubt incurred a few walk outs this evening, and he will never be the new Michael McIntyre, but if you want some actual meaning and insight with your comedy, then in my opinion Brendon Burns is your man.
While it can be said that Burns is a positively subdued act relative to the anger and mayhem that audiences witnessed just a couple of years ago in Burnsy’s set (particularly back in his drinking and drug taking days), there is no shortage of purpose or ferocious meaning behind the words when he deals with weighty themes in this show including atheism, paedophilia and homosexuality.
The confidence of Burns is staggering, tearing through topics on stage while possessing the knowledge that he is undoubtedly funny, even referencing the fact himself. He takes the audience on a rollercoaster of emotion through this show’s overarching theme of Burns losing, and trying to win back his girlfriend.
Burns opens up and gives us his all in this new tour, exposing deeply personal and potentially embarrassing sides of himself, creating the comedy from his very being and letting natural punch lines fall where they may. He closed on a particular favourite routine of mine about Arnold Schwarzenegger that I’ve been desperately waiting to see him perform again since having first seen him back in 2008.
Barring a bit of gig admin where Burns had to quieten down a large table of lads, who were really just fans anyway, this night was perfect. And although because of this distraction Burns kept having to swerve in and out of the narrative, slowing the pace and ruining the momentum at times, none of this could stop the whirlwind adventure and emotional rollercoaster that is a Brendon Burns solo show.
If Brendon Burns is playing in your area any time soon, whether at a comedy club or on his solo tour, I urge you to go see for yourself what an amazing performance he gives. It’s the closest comedy can get to drama without flipping over the spectrum.
Brendon Burns is currently touring his solo show ‘You Know – Love ‘n’ God ‘n’ Metaphysics ‘n’ Shit around the UK until December. Tour dates and further information can be found here.
Brendon Burns is also playing The Grinning Idiot venues in the North East on December 17th and 18th, details of which can be found here.
