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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Dave Allen

Dave Allen

ITV · 1993

A seasoned comic catalogs the daily frustrations of the modern world.

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Dave Allen returned to television in 1993 with a final run of stand-up that stripped away the sketches of his earlier career, leaving only the man, a stool, and a quiet sense of exasperation. Filmed for ITV after a three-year hiatus, the series captures a seasoned comic settling into the complaints of an aging observer. He had left the BBC following a joke about the monotony of working life that somehow caused a parliamentary uproar. Here, he no longer smokes on stage, but the pacing remains the same slow, deliberate delivery that defined his decades in British broadcasting.

The material leans away from the religious and political targets of his youth, focusing instead on the daily friction of the modern world. Allen details the specific agony of teaching a child how to read a clock face and acts out the life cycle of a sperm, casting himself as an agitated military general. He spends time on the rising stress of the service sector, finding fault with automated car voices, bank queues, and the strange social dynamics of riding in an elevator.

The set list

7 bits

  1. 1992 review, politicians, condom marketing, and telling time

    Reviewing the previous year, critiquing politicians and contraceptive promotion, and mocking the process of teaching children to read clocks.

  2. The absurdities of sex and Catholic dogma

    Pondering human sexuality through the lens of Catholic church teachings.

  3. Holiday brochures versus overseas vacation reality

    Contrasting the idealized imagery of travel brochures against the grim realities of foreign travel.

  4. Child-rearing and infant care

    Examining the absurdities of how families manage newborn babies and raise children.

  5. Automobiles, traffic, and motorist anxiety

    Analyzing road conditions and the psychological stresses experienced by modern drivers.

  6. Statistics, cosmetic surgery, and childhood theology

    Evaluating modern obsessions like statistics and physical alteration alongside recollections of pondering great theological dilemmas as a four-year-old.

  7. High street banks and supermarkets

    Critiquing the rituals and frustrations of everyday British commercial establishments.

How it plays

Tone
Irreverent, satirical, candid, and observational.
On stage
Seated on his trademark stool with a glass of drink, delivering candid, relaxed, and uncompromising observational satire with strong language and no subjects off-limits.
Pace
Laid-back sit-down comedy and conversational storytelling.
About
everyday life, religion, politics, sex and Catholicism, holiday travel, family and child rearing

What the critics said

Hailed as a welcome return to British television, praised for Allen's enduring genius, candid storytelling, and unwillingness to place limits on topics or language.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: watch.plex.tv, gowatching.com, britishclassiccomedy.co.uk, thetvdb.com, comedy.co.uk, screenonline.org.uk, newyorker.com, chortle.co.uk, theguardian.com, en.wikipedia.org, irishtimes.com.

Backstory

Allen's return to ITV for a seven-episode series produced by Carlton TV, maintaining his stripped-down solo stand-up style without the sketch comedy format of his earlier decades.

Details

Released
Taped
Mermaid Theatre, London
Where
ITV
Director
Tom Poole
Topics
Before
Dave Allen (BBC1 series) (1990)

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