Andy Parsons – Live Review – Leeds City Varieties

By Victoria Holdsworth, March 2018

I was always a fan of Mock The Week, however, there was one element I never quite seemed to get, and that was the main act this evening.

Under the presumption that I was maybe missing something, I had to find out for myself, because Andy Parsons seemed to be on every comedy panel show going, and was also a writer for Spitting Image. But the comedian has simply never made me laugh, whilst others raved about him.

This was a show which should have been toured last year; however, as the host tells us this evening, his little girl arrived early, so he had to postpone. We were then treated, of course, to some jokes about baby defecation.

I struggled through the first half. The material that was being offered up seemed out of date. If my audience had been waiting a year to see me, I think I would have made it a little more relevant than to churn out topics that have pretty much had their moment, or people are just fed up about hearing. It may have been funnier if he’d have engaged the audience in a type of ‘Grumpy Old Punters’ episode.

“Lacks edginess and energy”

The material Parsons is doing could really be done by anyone. He regaled a tale about him having to wait three months for an NHS appointment, as a follow up to a previous tale about trying to make the appointment in the first place – and I kind of drifted off half way through. Indeed, it felt like the joke went on for three months – and all to get the fact that he was so frustrated at not getting to see a doctor that he joined a group of junior doctors on a demonstration just to talk to someone.

There is the usual unoriginal fodder of Donald Trump, Theresa May and the privatised rail system, not to mention the cost of higher education.

His delivery of gags or anecdotes seems to get lost in the ether and the volume of his own voice. His routine lacks any edginess and energy. Parsons caters for his own interminable demographic, sounding like any middle aged man having a general moan.

His work, whilst some would argue is well planned out and written, is simply lacklustre – and even his fans tonight don’t really emit any belly laughs.

I personally felt that the audience had been cheated a little, having to wait an entire year for that performance. My only consolation is that now, at least, I have found out what I had always suspected: he’s just not that funny.