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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

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Lee Hurst

PolyGram Video · 1997 · 73 min

Audience interaction and panel show secrets on a West End stage.

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Lee Hurst capitalizes on his nineties television momentum by booking a massive West End stage and turning it into an interactive pub debate. Best known at the time as the breakout star of the BBC sports quiz They Think It’s All Over, he brings a combative, fast-talking sensibility to the theater, openly soliciting questions from the crowd and trading insults on the fly. It is a document of a working-class comic succeeding largely on his feet in front of an enthusiastic fanbase.

Filmed at London’s Her Majesty’s Theatre, the 1997 release acts as a victory lap for his panel-show era. Hurst pulls back the curtain on his television gig, detailing behind-the-scenes failures and off-script disasters during the quiz segment “Feel The Sportsman”. When he actually sticks to written material, he breaks down the fighting techniques of football hooligans and explains the precise mechanics of how he managed to call his own grandmother the worst word in the English language without facing consequences.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Football hooligans

    A stand-up routine dissecting football hooligans and their behavior.

  2. Audience question-and-answer session

    An interactive Q&A session directly with the venue audience.

  3. They Think It's All Over outtakes

    Recounting anecdotes about parts and mistakes on 'They Think It's All Over' that he and fellow cast members blew.

How it plays

Tone
Laddish, irreverent, conversational
On stage
Sharp, in-yer-face Cockney lad demeanor with quick wit and an acid tongue.
Pace
Ad-libbed, spontaneous, off-the-cuff remarks combined with sharp one-liners.
About
Football hooligans, Behind-the-scenes television anecdotes, Audience banter

What the critics said

Considered entertaining and lively by official synopsis overviews, but dismissed in later retrospective appraisal as unmemorable and uninspiring compared to contemporary circuit peers.

In the room: The crowd was reported to be rolling with laughter throughout the performance.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, twoshedsreview.blogspot.com, officialcharts.com, flicklist.tv, chortle.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, the-independent.com, comedy.co.uk.

Backstory

Known publicly for his sharp 'mouthy Cockney' persona on TV, contrasting with his private reality of living with ankylosing spondylitis and teetotalism, alongside running his own comedy club in London's East End.

Details

Released
Taped
Her Majesty's Theatre, London
Runtime
73 min
Where
PolyGram Video
Director
David Coleman
Honors
Peaked at #25 on the UK Official Video Chart (December 1997)Ranked #76 on the End of Year Video Chart (1997/1998)
Topics

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