Review: Robin Ince and Michael Legge (Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back in the Habit) – The Stand, Edinburgh
Michael Legge & Robin Ince
‘We done this show for the telly people. Where are the telly people?’ proclaim Robin Ince and Michael Legge, before launching into a wonderfully biting critique of mainstream culture…including students and Facebook. But it’s not one of those shows; this is cliché-free comedy, with inventive ideas and captivating execution. It’s crafted chaos from start to finish, with large moments of audience bantering punctuated with dashes of slick, prepared material.
Every word is dressed with a layer of irony, and the wit on offer during their improv sections are a real pleasure, too. It’s a show that can be enjoyed on so many levels, especially for the pair’s comedy in-jokes about Avalon, Jongleurs and TV comedians. They even, rather bravely, incorporate reviewer and Show Me The Funny judge Kate Copstick into the performance, using her as a fallback when Legge trips over his lines or ‘shows Ince up.’
Of course the show isn’t without its lulls – the ‘Angry Heroes’ section, for example, offers an arduous set-up for such a small pay-off – but Ince and Legge deliver at such a pace that moments of silence provide a welcome rest for a crowd partaking in such a communal stand-up experience.
That sense of shared ire – righteous ire? – is perhaps why the show is such a success. We all love to moan, to complain and to protest about mundane things like escalator etiquette, gap years and morris dancing – and here, at The Stand V, Robin Ince and Michael Legge fight for our right to pointless anger. What a joy.
Date of live review: Thursday 11th August 2011.
