We are so fortunate in this wonderful City to have a couple of iconic theatres and I am lucky to be able to visit them on a fairly regular basis.
The City Varieties was my destination last night to see the Leeds leg of Marcus Brigstocke’s Devil May Care Tour. The auditorium is perfect for a stand-up comedian, after all that is what it was designed for in 1865 as part of the Music Hall boom. The interior has barely changed apart from the upgrading to electric lights and periodic refurbishments. The same cannot be said for the comedians, however.
Until 1968 the Lord Chamberlain was responsible for the licensing of theatre performances and so could censor acts at will. This meant that the language had to be restrained with words such as Hell, damn and even belly and bum outlawed. Had this still been the case last night’s performances would have lasted about five minutes. As its name suggests, the Marcus Brigstocke set was based on the difference between good and bad and deciding which is which. He even appeared in character as Lucifer. The atmosphere was set even before the performance began by the choice of background music playing whilst the audience took their seats. There was ‘Devil Woman’, ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ and many other Hades-based melodies.
Before that, there was a performance by Rob Rouse, a regular on the TV series Upstart Crow, whose appearance doesn’t seem to be given a mention on any of the promotional material for the tour, and he played on the fact that no one expected a warm-up act. He did a 40 minute set which began by having banter with a heckler and other members of the audience. The rest was taken up by his realisation that he had hit middle age and how it affects his relationship with his family, before then riffing on his check-up at the doctors which at his age involves the use of a rubber glove. Note to Mr Rouse: if you think that the medical procedures involved with middle age are gruesome, just wait until you get old!
The act relied on interaction with the audience and wouldn’t you just know it, the three people he picked on were a nurse and two doctors, one of whom corrected him in his use of the wrong finger to illustrate a rectal examination! Parts of his set were hilarious but there were a few fallow moments. On the whole though he did a great job. After all, who wants a warm up act to be better than the main performer.
Cue Lucifer, alias Marcus Brigstocke. He appeared with horns and covered in red make-up, an effect which made him just about unrecognisable and quite unnerving. He maintained this persona throughout the performance, lapsing into other voices now and again for effect. He was at least an equal opportunities Devil, confining just about every strand of society to the fiery furnace even though he said it was full.
There were two members of the audience who, had Mr Brigstocke been the real Lucifer, would have surely been fast tracked to Hell. Two women sharing a box kept up a non-stop conversation for about five minutes after which time he lost patience and gave them the most severe telling off I have ever witnessed in a theatre. It was an admonishment which would have ensured the Lord Chamberlain would have never given him another licence to perform for the rest of eternity and beyond. To the surprise and amazement of the rest of the audience the women answered back, attempting to justify their discussion, obviously oblivious to the fact that that is not how you behave in a theatre. We all grabbed our chair arms as Beelzibub unleashed all his wrath upon them, explaining the rules of etiquette quite forcibly, and after they were given the option to shut up or f*** off they reluctantly chose the former and let him continue.
The act continued with the red face make-up beginning to run and produce an even more unnerving effect. The change in attitude to right and wrong over time was highlighted by using many sources from myth and legend, through religion and up to the present day, illustrated by such instances as coveting thy neighbour’s ox being punishable by damnation, but the watching of pornography not being covered.
Again the audience were made to become involved, especially a family of husband, wife and their two sons aged 14 and 16. I have tried to write about the conversation and questions they were asked but it really doesn’t work when read on screen, but it was very funny. He had a go at Brexiteers, Remainers, Atheists, Vegans and, as previously alluded to, every other branch of society. My only criticism of the whole evening was that every so often he would drop the character and lapse into a Rik Mayall face-pull and stance which really grated on me.
It was so refreshing to see a comedian whose only agenda was to make his audience think for themselves as well as laugh, rather than present a party political broadcast in the guise of a comedy show. I have rarely, if ever, seen someone use as wide a range of reference points as Marcus Brigstocke and hit the spot with both the basest and the most intellectual senses of humour. I highly recommend that you go see this show should you get the chance as it is devilishly good.
Editor’s note: Marcus’ tour continues across many UK venues, including some February 2019 dates. You may well feel sorry to have missed the City Varieties performance. If so, we suggest Salford on 3 November might be the most convenient.
Feature photograph (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive. All photographs provided by Emery PR
