Review: Ben Elton - Authentic Stupidity

In many ways it is refreshing that Ben Elton hasn't changed his act at all over the last 44 years. Go back to any YouTube clip of his 1980s stand-up and you'll hear the same rhythm, vocal tics, and emphasis as he does today. Even his politics haven't shifted (much) with identical rants about feckless politicians and the dangers of bigotry.

What's lost is the sense of topicality. Hey! Don't we all look at our phones too much?! Gosh! Isn't Daniel Craig a different James Bond to Roger Moore?! Zowie! That Viagra is a bit of a laugh amiritelaydeezngentlemen?!

The latter joke being almost 30 years old and, as he cheerfully informs us, originally written for Ronnie Corbett!

There are flashes of delightful danger. A routine about assisted suicide is obviously underscored with a burning passion for justice and dignity in death, yet cheerfully thrusts the audience's distaste back at them.

The audience of the Wednesday matinée are, obviously, of a certain age and the show is squarely aimed at them. Lots of the jokes are basically "Your grandkids have different pronouns?!?! What's that all about!?!?"

I'll be honest, it's a bit grim and feels like a cheap shot.

And then.

Ben is the master at turning the joke back on the audience. "What's wrong with new pronouns?" he asks. He points out how all the radical lefties of old were fighting for liberation and can't complain now that society has overtaken them. The snake devours its own tail.

Similarly, he has a routine about how taking out the bins is a man's job. It's all a bit old-school and, frankly, a little uncomfortable. The volte-face is magnificent - pointing out that lesbian couples obviously take out the bins, as do non-binary households. So woke! So redeeming! And then he undercuts it with a sexist jibe at his wife.

And that sums up the whole show. He points out folly, turns it back on itself, then mines the dichotomy for laughs. Honestly, it feels a bit equivocating.

Yes, it is mostly funny - but it is also exhausting waiting for Ben to catch up with his own politics.