Times have changed for Ben Elton and he knows it. “The last time I toured I was still smarter than my phone,” he quipped when his first UK dates in 15 years were announced. Yet his return finds him still sharp if not quite as cutting edge as in his sparkly-suited heyday.
In his new show the trim 60-year-old zoomed in on his confusion about the modern world. You could sum up his grumpiness as “it wasn’t broke, why did people try to fix it?” Beer was fine, why do we have terrible craft beer? Bread was fine, why do we have sourdough? Why does salt now come in germ-gathering bowls?
Alongside the classic observational humour, he also tackled bigger topics. He did not write much on Brexit as he expected it to be sorted by the time his tour started and there was nothing earth-shakingly shocking about his Left-wing stance. What was notable was Elton talking touchingly about his father, a refugee from Europe who suffered from Alzheimer’s in his later years.
Ageing was something of a motif for the writer of The Young Ones. He accepted he has now reached that “pale, male and stale” point where all rap sounds the same to him and painted an unapologetically crude but hilarious picture of old people’s homes in the future with geriatric residents shuffling around to obscene hip-hop lyrics. He has certainly retained his gift for striking lines and this set was crammed with them, from enjoyably smutty gags about “Phoebe Waller-Wotsit’s” Fleabag to his personal take on gender fluidity.
The energetic performance was seamless throughout, the only wrinkles were on his face. Older? Yes. Wiser? Mostly.
Ben Elton headlines the Scope benefit at 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, W12 on December 21 (0844 844 0444, ticketmaster.co.uk)
