Hal Cruttenden: Straight Outta Cruttenden, London
You’d think we’d have had enough of the upper classes, given the way they dominate UK politics, but British audiences still find posh people funny. When it comes to stand-up comedy, it seems the posh can only survive if they come equipped with either an elevated sense of superiority taken to ridiculous extremes (as exhibited by deadpan capitalist crusader Simon Evans) or a profound awareness of their own silliness, like you get from the increasingly visible Hal Cruttenden. He’s managed to turn being a bit posh into a form of clowning, making the most of an aristocratically fey voice and an inappropriate, camp manner and using them to create the persona of someone totally out of step with the kind of laidback, geezerish comics who are the standard fare on the circuit. His new show furthers this “fish out of water” impression; it’s a charming litany of social failures, bad choices and domestic incompetence. He also plays club sets this week.
An Evening With Noel Fielding, On tour
There have been a lot of pin-ups from the world of comedy over the years: Rob Newman and Sean Hughes are two who spring to mind. Both were fixtures on teenage bedroom walls back in the day, but they’ve since developed a mature style to suit their older audiences. Such a journey may soon await Noel Fielding. As one half of the Mighty Boosh, he seemed to be a style icon as well as a comedy inspiration during the 00s. Now he’s in his early 40s, and his fans are ageing with him. Fortunately, Fielding’s stuff won’t ever go out of date, largely since it has only the most tangential relationship with the outside world. He’s a pure-bred surrealist, mashing up language, symbols and ideas into a stew from which the most unlikely characters, situations and jokes are pulled forth.
Angela Barnes, London & Bedford
For all that we would love every stand-up to operate on a level playing field, it remains the case that whenever a woman has the temerity to be funny in public, she’s greeted with a fusillade of online hate. If female politicians think they have it bad, they should try making jokes on Mock The Week while having the cheek to possess two X chromosomes. Angela Barnes has copped her fair share of stick on Twitter, but she gets her own back by reading some choice (ie repulsive) items out as part of her act. This is of a piece with her take-me-as-I-am approach to the world, making fun of the ways society is cruel to women (from body shaming to double standards of ageing) and refusing to let them define her. Yet she doesn’t offer a stridently pedagogic experience, instead presenting it all with a rueful warmth that actually makes her points harder to shrug off.
