Doug Stanhope & Henry Phillips – Tyne Theatre, Newcastle

Doug Stanhope

It’s hard to know what to expect when sitting down to see Doug Stanhope in the flesh. On the one hand there’s the acerbic, fearless, Bill Hicks-style social demonstrator (as seen on Charlie Brooker’s News Wipe), but on the other he could equally be the shambling abusive drunk of legend.

Before we get to the main event however, a very special mention must be made to Stanhope’s tour support, Henry Phillips. Taking to the stage with an acoustic guitar and a southern states drawl, Phillips delivers a near perfect set of genuinely funny and songs backed up with a self deprecating wit which more than fills the gaps. Phillips and Stanhope go way back – and the chemistry is clear – but this is the former’s first time in the UK and on the strength of his material, and the good will he builds with the audience throughout, we can only hope that its not long before he returns to our shores…

Now, previously I said that Stanhope is expected to be either a controversial boundary pusher or stridently offensive. In all honesty, though, he is neither of those things tonight. Instead, Stanhope presents a far more balanced and, dare I say it, traditional stand up show.

There are still plenty of drug and alcohol stories, and plenty to elicit shocked squirming in the seats (a protracted sex fantasy about American footballers springs to a mind which will probably never be clean again); but the key difference here is that, all the while, Doug Stanhope seems genuinely happy.

It’s a fact that the man himself acknowledges several times onstage, and it seems that touring with a good friend and his girlfriend is suiting Stanhope very well. So whilst he still has several drinks in hand throughout, the show is more focused and anecdotal than the divisive rants that some may associate him with.

It may sound like I’m accusing Doug of going soft, when actually nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, it seems like happiness, and a greater spotlight on this tour, have served to streamline his show into a genuinely well crafted stand up routine.

He’s an unlikely, crude, booze-sodden champion for thought-provoking issues, but he’s still capable of instantly shocking the crowd. Yet Stanhope’s also more funny than bitter, and capable of transcending the polarised expectations of his stand-up.

This tour could well mark the beginning of a whole new chapter in Doug Stanhope’s career.

Doug Stanhope is at Sunderland Empire tonight, Wednesday 14th March 2012. Tickets are £21 and available here.