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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Live in London

Jack Dee

1997 · 60 min

Deadpan complaints about modern life from a thoroughly irritated man.

Jack Dee leans into the friction of daily life, finding a steady rhythm in his complaints about deviant pets, Kinder Eggs, and the forced enthusiasm of the Olympics. Filmed during a six-week sold-out run at London’s Gielgud Theatre, the set captures the comic at the peak of his commercial visibility. 1997 was a major year for his career, marked by a 70-date UK tour and a win for Best Stand-up Comedian at the British Comedy Awards. His delivery was ubiquitous at the time, bolstered by television hosting gigs and a massive ad campaign for John Smith’s Bitter. The material feels tailored to an audience exhausted by public interaction. He picks apart the inherent strangeness of bodybuilders, the reality of dealing with aggressive catcallers, and the indignity of being mistaken for other celebrities. He treats his own anger as a finely tuned instrument, delivering a sequence of methodical grievances without ever breaking his miserable character.

The set list

2 bits

  1. Builders and catcalling

    Places himself rather than women at the center of the Neanderthal attentions of builders

  2. Mistaken identity

    Deadpan routine about being mistaken for another celebrity

How it plays

Tone
Deadpan, sarcastic, and biting
On stage
Deadpan, sarcastic, grumpy, and self-derogatory whinger who is unapologetic and dressed in an orange shirt and tailored blue suit
Pace
Tackles one subject at a time to explore and move on, relying on an onslaught of observational humor rather than surrealism or one-liners
About
British life, Self-deprecation, Catcallers and builders, Celebrity encounters

What the critics said

Praised for putting the UK's favourite whinger in his element with sharp observational humor and a fresh perspective on universal themes

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: blu-ray.com, allmovie.com, uk.newonnetflix.info, welleyenever.com, movie-trailer.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, allmusic.com, thetimes.com.

Details

Released
Taped
Gielgud Theatre, London
Runtime
60 min
Director
Tom Poole
Topics
Before
Live at the London Palladium (1994)
After
Live at the Apollo (2004)

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