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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

An Evening With Lee Evans

Lee Evans

Channel 4 · 1993 · 28 min

A high-energy hour of slapstick and observational panic.

Lee Evans essentially sweats his way into stardom by throwing his entire body at the microphone [1]. His rubber-limbed act sits somewhere between a traditional club set and a slapstick survival test [1, 2]. He spends his stage time pantomiming the indignities of existing, whether that means mocking the aggressive mating rituals of men at discos or delivering his signature, fully acted-out rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” [1]. It is an aerobic approach to observational comedy, powered by an underlying panic about social interaction.

Filmed at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre for Channel 4, the broadcast catches the comic at his mainstream breakout [1, 3]. He had just won the Perrier Award at the 1993 Edinburgh Festival, elevating him from the club circuit and drawing heavy comparisons to Jerry Lewis and Norman Wisdom [2]. The resulting set bottles the exact moment he started sprinting toward arena-level fame [1, 3].

The set list

3 bits

  1. Silent rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody

    A silent physical and acrobatic interpretation of the song

  2. Orchestra Battle

    Opening physical stand-up routine featuring an orchestral battle

  3. Guest appearances with Bruce Forsyth and a bewigged Jack Dee

    Comedic guest segments integrated into the special

How it plays

Tone
Energetic, comedic, and physical
On stage
Energetic, frenetic, and physical comedy reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin and Mr. Bean, spanning acrobatic to verbal humor
Pace
Frenetic, highly energetic, and physically acrobatic
About
acrobatic physical comedy, musical parody, mime

What the critics said

Described as fantastic, energetic, and frenetic physical comedy in the vein of Mr Bean and Chaplin, with the Bohemian Rhapsody routine singled out as gold

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: comedy.co.uk, thecouchcritic.com, layar-movie.vercel.app, wheretowatch.stream, critifan.com, lovestandup.com, letterboxd.com, comedycv.co.uk.

Backstory

A one-off Christmas special broadcast on Channel 4 in December 1993 following his Edinburgh Comedy Award win

Details

Released
Taped
Duke of York's Theatre
Runtime
28 min
Where
Channel 4
Director
David G. Hillier
Topics
After
Live at Her Majesty's (1994)

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