Movie Muser

Jack Whitehall is a bit of a Marmite comedian, although you do get the impression that his detractors are more annoyed that he’s young, good-looking and funny than being bothered about the edge of smugness that some accuse him of. He’s certainly come a long was in a short time, with this DVD documenting his Wembley gig, which was part of a huge arena tour that attracted audiences in the 10s of thousands. And he’s still only 26.

As with many young comedians who become big headline act, there is undoubtedly a sense that he’s still learning his trade and coming into his own. That’s particularly clear by his reliance on ‘mistakes’, which probably work well when you’re watching him live, but on DVD it’s clear that these are not mistakes at all, or at least perhaps they were at one point during the tour but have now been woven into the act and are now very deliberate. Comedians making deliberate mistakes is extremely common, but it shouldn’t look like that’s what they’re doing.

I was also initially worried that Getting Around was going to fall into the trap that many comedians who’ve become famous get stuck in, where their act essentially becomes about their fame and all the cool people they’ve met. You can understand why it happens, as modern stand-up tends to rely on people dissecting their own lives, but unless carefully handled, when the act becomes about a comedian’s own success it can lose the important common ground with the audience and feel a bit like an ego trip.

Luckily though before he starts getting too tedious, Whitehall pulls it back and gets into more universal and fun territory such as his love of The Lion King and his relationship with his family. When he sticks to that he is very funny and able to hold the stage even when he is in a cavernous arena. It was a smart idea to do the tour in the round, with Jack in the middle and the audience surrounding him, as it allows the whole thing to feel far more intimate than you’d expect.

When Jack’s at his best is when he allows his almost child-like silliness out – an admission that just because you’ve got a bit older it doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying the things of childhood and giggling at nonsense. When he’s doing that he’s incredibly endearing and funny.

There are times when the act relies slightly too much on the fact Jack is rather camp and that he’s gay in all ways except for the sleeping with men part. Although a little overdone it works largely because Whitehall is well aware that the joke is on him and that it wouldn’t matter if he was gay, he just isn’t. Indeed there are moments where it almost accidentally hits on smart points about the difference between personality and sexuality that are often clumped together in people’s heads.

I think that Whitehall still hasn’t hit the heights of what he could potentially be. With Getting Around it’s clear that he has the potential to be very smart, incredibly funny and immensely likable, but while he’s very entertaining it’s difficult to escape the feeling he still has potential to be even better and that here we’re only getting about 80% of what he has the potential to be.

Overall Verdict: Whitehall’s latest live DVD is a fun ride and often very funny, but his reliance on crutches such as deliberate mistakes means it feels that Jack’s still a talent in the making rather than one who’s already everything he could be.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

The sort of variety acts that were a staple of British TV up until the 1980s have largely disappeared (while Britain’s Got Talent may have brought it back to primetime, it still exists pretty much in isolation). And with the death of variety, ventriloquism pretty much disappeared too.

However in the last few years Nina Conti has slowly but surely been rising up the comedy ranks and becoming more of a household name. To be honest she ought to be more famous than she is, as her CV includes appearances in Christopher Guest movies and slew of TV shows, but it seems that with ventriloquism looked down on in many circles she’s had more difficulty pushing through than she perhaps should have.

Dolly Mixtures is a great showcase for her talents, where she interacts with a variety of puppet characters, from those she’s known for, such as Monkey and Gran, to newer characters like Conti’s eight-year-old daughter and an ancient man who’s nearing death (which may not sound funny, but it actually is). The loose theme running through the show is the ages of man, hence why characters run from the very young to the very old – plus a monkey.

What helps ensure Conti’s act doesn’t feel like we’ve suddenly fallen back in time three decades is the fact she’s very smart and constantly plays with what she’s doing. She is far from the first ventriloquist to have puppets who acknowledge they are puppets, but she takes it much further than hackneyed ‘you’ve got your hand up my ass jokes’.

While she keeps it light, there are plenty of fun and clever postmodern touches, where she gently brings up ideas about the psychological implications of what she’s doing, such as what the fact that she’s essentially having a conversation with herself means, and whether her characters are just projections of herself. Likewise she plays with the fact the audience is watching her doing this and getting involved with something that doesn’t really exist.

However this is certainly not 65 minutes of heavy intellectualism, as Conti fits it in amongst plenty of silliness and humour, helped by a quick wit and a series of well thought out and funny puppet characters. She also brings out what has become one of her signature pieces, where she turns audience members into puppets with the help of a false mouth that she can operate. Here she gets a great set-up with a woman who’s come to the gig with her boyfriend and his twin brother. While I’ve seen her do this type of ventriloquism before and not been particularly impressed, here’s it’s very funny indeed.

What’s also nice about her act is that while she does swear and can sometimes be a little bit rude, her act feels like something that’s for a wide range of people, which is evidenced by the fact that her audience ranges from students to pensioners.

Overall Verdict: Dolly Mixtures is proof that the likes of impressionists, ventriloquists, traditional magic acts and various other variety acts from TV past don’t need to be consigned to the dustbin, as when done well – as Nina Conti does – they can still be a lot of fun.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Thanks to Mock The Week and Good News, Russell Howard is now one of the UK’s biggest stand-up acts. While many comics have a shtick to help them stand out, Howard is a more traditional stand-up, telling funny stories and jokes, and finding the general silliness of life.

What help makes it work is that he comes across as such a friendly, slightly dorky but cool guy. He’s the sort of person where it feels like if you went out for a drink you’d have a good time and a lot of laughs, and what he manages to do with Wonderbox better than he has on previous DVDs, is fully pull the viewer into so that it truly feels you’re truly part of a fun night out. There’s none of the anger or snide-ness that so many comics trade in, as even when he’s making fun of something there’s a positive edge where he feels the need to point it out not specifically to tear it down but because he thinks there’s something better.

Anyone who’s seen any of Howard’s previous stand-up will know what to expect, with stories about his life, where he’s been and a lot about his family, particularly his mother (you get the impression that Russell owes a lot to his mum for giving him his comic edge).

With his previous DVDs there was a slight sense of disappointment, as while he was very funny on TV, as a headline act he had trouble sustaining that for an hour and a half – which isn’t too surprising as part of what works for him is a buzzing energy that draws you in but is tough to sustain for 90 minutes. However this time around he’s found the balance so the whole thing is well structured to ensure you stay with him and enjoy the show.

Good News fans won’t be surprised that he wants to leave his audience with a bit of inspiration. Although the way he does it, with the story of a 14-year-old cancer patient, does get close to being a bit of an ego trip for Howard himself rather than the person he’s talking about, he manages to turn it around and make it very funny, with a witty and heart-warming finale that tops off what is a silly and very entertaining DVD.

Overall Verdict: After a couple of DVDs that were funny but somewhat underwhelming, it feels like Howard’s act has come into its own with Wonderbox, where he owns the stage and offers up a lot of laughs.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac