Will Self Review
Bradford Middleton
Feb 06
|15:52
WILL SELF and guests @ Komedia
Â
This show was promoted as being about what is new about the new year but the content was more concentrated on the concept of today (Monday 24th) as being the most miserable day of the year which is kind of ironic as after the first half of the show I was completely down about the standard of performers I had witnessed up to that point. Up to this point I had witnessed a host, Paul Lyalls, whose material was either based around subterfuge or was so out-of-date it defied belief and whose poetry was so poor it left me grimacing. This was followed by a foul-mouthed women from sarf London, Liz Bentley, whose idea of comedy seemed to revolve around self-depreciation and the word c**t. It was not the most auspicious of beginnings but we had come for Mr Self and after that we were ready for whatever he wanted to throw at us.
 
As he and partner in crime, Mathew De Abaitua, entered the stage area Self was mockingly making shapes behind his head much to the amusement of most people in the room, including your reviewer. From here, Self wandered out into the crowd offering wine, crisps and peanuts to all and sundry whilst exchanging in dialogue with his partner. The theme was his upcoming 50th birthday which should come as a shock to all of us giving his legendary taste for all things drug related. It was promising to be some show and clearly outlined Self’s interest in absurdist theatre and was well-received. From here we settled into the usual pattern of Self being derogatory about his partner and generally being very funny. We had some talk on De Abaitua’s upbringing by the police, the history of his sex life, or lack thereof, as well as his general poor life and how Self, a self-proclaimed rich man, was such a better human being. I told you it was absurd! From here it was time for a bit of audience participation and, honestly, this was my favourite bit of the show. Self destroyed the three kids who volunteered to be his guinea pigs and we all loved it but that unfortunately was it. The show was over and it was barely half nine.
Â
