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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Wired and Wonderful — Live at Wembley

Lee Evans

Universal Pictures · 2002 · 2 h

A highly physical set of standard observational gripes and elaborate pantomimes.

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Lee Evans spends two hours treating his own body like a cartoon character trying to outrun an anvil. The draw here is purely the physical exertion. Evans throws himself across the stage, sweating through his suit while turning standard observational premises into feats of endurance. The standout moments aren’t really spoken punchlines, but elaborate pantomimes, culminating in a highly choreographed mime routine to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Filmed at London’s Wembley Arena in 2002, the show captured the comic just as he locked down his status as a major arena act. Coming off a brief stint writing and starring in a BBC sitcom the year prior, Evans booked a 121-date tour to capitalize on his momentum. The material stays in strictly familiar territory, anchored by gripes about dead batteries in TV remotes, airplane etiquette, and the underfunded NHS.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody

    A comedic physical interpretation and musical parody of the song.

  2. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Final musical number featuring his father closer

    Evans performs a prolonged musical routine accompanied by his father miming a saxophone solo.

  3. Phone calls and wrong numbers

    Ruminating on why callers have the wrong number instead of the wrong house, and the frustration of spouses asking who is calling in the middle of the night.

  4. Supermarket car park remote keys

    Making fun of smug men who press the key fob to unlock their car before reaching it.

  5. Getting lost while driving with your wife

    Comparing the expectation of a spouse navigating like a rally co-driver with the reality of getting lost and distracted by shops.

  6. British seagulls

    Depicting huge, aggressive seagulls with imaginary tattoos and mobile phones demanding chips.

How it plays

Tone
Manic, silly, over-the-top, and crude.
On stage
A manic, physical, energetic, rubber-faced, and sweat-drenched persona often compared to Norman Wisdom and Jerry Lewis.
Pace
Frenetic tempo, whirling, highly physical, explosive, and fast-paced delivery.
About
marriage and relationships, aging and old people, childhood and school memories, daily observations and trivial frustrations, animals and pets, hotel mishaps

What the critics said

Praised by fans for Evans's tireless physical energy, bellyaching observational humor, and animated presence, though criticized by detractors as repetitive, overly reliant on crude profanity, or overstretched.

In the room: An eager, giddy arena crowd of thousands laughing continuously.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, comedy.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, wikipedia.anarim.az, letterboxd.com, justwatch.com.

Backstory

Part of a nationwide tour spanning over 100 dates culminating in two sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, where Evans was noted as the first comedian to perform solo at the arena.

Details

Released
Taped
Wembley Arena, London
Runtime
2 h
Where
Universal Pictures
Director
Tom Poole
Topics
Before
The Ultimate Experience (2001)

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