Review: Michael McIntyre: Showtime – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Michael McIntyre
Michael McIntyre gets a lot of bad press.
Dismissive reviewers argue he’s just ‘noticing stuff.’ Stewart Lee once famously described his material as “warm diarrhoea” spoon-fed to the masses. While open spots across the country take a pop at him at new act nights – presumably because they think McIntyre delivers weak observations that just about anyone can pull off. The irony’s not lost on this reviewer…
His defence is well-reported – “If it’s so easy then why don’t you do it?” – though surely the best way for McIntyre to combat his critics is not with pithy national interviews, but on the stage, in front of his fans.
Which brings us to tonight’s show at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, another sell out date on his Showtime tour. No matter what your personal taste is, McIntyre’s popularity is unquestionable; the merchandise stalls are crammed with t-shirts, bags and stickers, laden with lines about man drawers and five spice. Brand McIntyre is booming.
But what about the comedy?
McIntyre’s world view is simple. His life orbits around his wife and two children; and so his material is all about misjudged situations, family tension and kids who are frankly a pain in the arse. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking – no loud and proud statements – but what’s most impressive, for me, is how McIntyre carefully packages this occasionally pedestrian outlook into a strangely liberating show.
There’s no narrative, no political agenda, no strangling tension before a killer pull-back and reveal. Stewart Lee he is not. Instead, carefully choreographed stories are glued together by the ever-jovial McIntyre, who throws himself into material and often drags you along with his unrelenting enthusiasm – even if his impression of reality sometimes doesn’t align with your own.
His material on lost romance, for example, never quite holds my attention, more so because it’s frighteningly close to the type of material you’d expect from Lee Evans – in the late nineties.
But by and large, McIntyre pitches his lines with an acute awareness of everyday life. And as the show draws to a close, McIntyre really kicks into gear; a trademark routine on the children’s song Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes hits the sweet spot, before he puts the icing on the cake with a lengthy closing yarn about a frightful trip to the dentist. It’s McIntyre at his best – an absolute joy.
Those who see comedy as the medium of individuality – of the oddball comic looking into an unfamiliar world – will likely leave here disappointed, but that’s fine. McIntyre has this audience in the palm of his hand, and on tonight’s effort they’re here to stay.
Date of live review: Saturday 10th November 2012.
