Jerk: Live in London 2017... And How We Got There

Michael Legge’s irritability does not operate at a standard resting pulse. He spends the set shouting about grievances petty enough to verge on the pathological, yet the exasperation is so thorough that it feels like a completely reasonable response to modern life. The standouts include an irrational hatred of Ed Sheeran, complete with an imagined horrific backstory, and a furious breakdown about walking into an Apple Store against his own better judgment.

He is permanently spoiling for a fight with everyone, including himself.

The title refers not to Legge, but to his late dog Jerk, who died around the same time as David Bowie. That loss anchors the back half of the set, culminating in a deliberately awkward musical tribute. In between, he details his physical decline at forty-eight, the smugness of clean eaters, and a butterfly that chose the worst conceivable moment to enter his bedroom.

Recorded in London following a run at The Stand during the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the audio album arrived on Bandcamp in February 2018. At the time, Legge was best known as a circuit headliner, a regular on the panel podcast Do The Right Thing, and Robin Ince’s sparring partner in Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire. Reviews from the fringe run were positive, even if critics found the Bowie-dog parallel slightly bolted on.