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Brick Wall Comedy

Live at the Apollo

Julian Clary & Jack Dee

BBC One · 2005 · 45 min

Julian Clary delivers deadpan camp on stilts at the Hammersmith Apollo.

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Jack Dee introduces his guest as “Britain’s biggest homosexual,” prompting Julian Clary to make his entrance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on towering stilts. This 2005 performance captures Clary leaning heavily on his signature persona, deploying a mix of deadpan audience interrogation and double entendres that keep the theater crowd on its toes. Rather than relying entirely on crowd work, Clary anchors the set with a detailed story about accidentally soiling himself in front of the Queen.

Filmed during the second series of the BBC’s stand-up showcase, the episode serves as a time capsule of mid-2000s British television. Before Clary takes the stage, host Jack Dee delivers an opening turn that plays to his familiar, grumpy strengths. Dee spends his time grumbling about the daily nuisances of cold-callers, chemists, and vacuum cleaners.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Jack Dee lambasting cold calling and everyday annoyances.

    Delivering a routine that attacks cold calling for gas, phone, and electricity, and lays into chemists, mobile phones, and vacuum cleaners.

  2. Julian Clary bringing audience members onto stage.

    Pulling two participants from the crowd who turn out to be a soldier and a sailor for an audience-participation segment.

  3. Jack Dee joshing with celebrity audience members.

    Lighthearted interaction with a celebrity audience that included McFly and Abi Titmuss.

How it plays

On stage
Julian Clary performs in sequinned leather chaps with 'camp nonsense' and sharp wit, contrasted against Jack Dee's 'grumpy' comedic persona.
Pace
Julian Clary whips the audience into a frenzy; Jack Dee starts out mildly before working up a full head of steam.
About
cold calling, utilities, chemists, mobile phones, vacuum cleaners

What the critics said

Jane Simon of the Mirror noted that Clary is 'a bit of a one-trick pony in sequinned leather chaps' performing 'the same old camp nonsense', sandwiched between 'two grumpy chunks of Jack Dee in the last of his excellent series.'

In the room: Julian Clary whips the audience into a frenzy; the audience included celebrities such as McFly and Abi Titmuss.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: bbc.co.uk, thetvdb.com, comedy.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, mirror.co.uk.

Backstory

The season finale of Series 2 of Jack Dee Live at the Apollo, a British stand-up television programme recorded in front of a live audience at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

Details

Released
Taped
Hammersmith Apollo, London
Runtime
45 min
Where
BBC One
Director
Paul Wheeler
Topics

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