Tag Archives: Michael McIntyre

Michael McIntyre: As funny, camp and posh as ever

17 Wednesday Oct 2012

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I’m sure you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say ‘man drawer’, ‘I am five spice’ and ‘I was absolutely gazeboed last night’.

Yes, I recently saw the self-proclaimed fat Chinese man himself at London O2, and he did not fail to deliver his camp, posh jollity.

Michael McIntyre, the nation’s favourite comedian, effortlessly reeled off joke after joke, bringing tears to my eyes.

Despite being seated higher up in the cheap seats – which Michael mocked us for saying we “should have booked sooner” – I had a pretty good, central view in the mammoth venue.

Ironically I’d bought my ticket over a year ago! McIntyre apologised for the premature ticket release by saying he panicked that no one was going to come.

On the contrary, ‘Showtime’, his 2nd monster arena tour with 71 dates across the UK sold out instantly.

His entrance was just as impressive. On the same lines as Wallace & Gromit, a video showed him getting ready for the show, robot style, before being introduced by the X Factor voice over guy and emerging to ACDC’s ‘Back in Black’.

He certainly is back.

As expected, McIntyre’s set flowed perfectly, touching on subjects that everyone could identify with. He took the universally acknowledged oddities of reality, and spiced them up in his own whimsical way.

Of course he mentioned the Olympics and how dressage is “not a sport, just a gay horse.” The Royals got a large segment what with all the nudity this year, as you can imagine.

He also highlighted the idiocy of online booking, how difficult it is to look good in photos, and how he’s figured out the moment you know you’re in a long term relationship.

The men in the audience sympathised when he complained about the complexity of women, the couples recognized his attempts at spontaneity and the parents understood his struggle to entertain his children.

He may be the king of comedy, but like every human being he isn’t perfect. A large portion of his jokes are in the form of self-mockery and tales of embarrassment.

This makes us love him even more as, despite his fame and wealth, he is still human.

The gig I saw was actually the night it was filmed for his DVD, and of course it was this night he chose to say ‘cock-porn’ instead of ‘popcorn’. He teased, “would you stop laughing at my mistakes, it’s my DVD night!”

There also seemed to be a lack of his usual hop-skip-and-jump-around-the-stage routine, and I’m sure I heard him wheezing in between jokes.

I can’t deny that he was still as animated and flamboyant as ever in his delivery. In comparison to his other gigs, he seemed to interact a lot more with the audience and go off on humorous tangents, instead of sticking to a strict, yet very funny, routine.

All in all, a hilarious display of comedic excellence and I can’t wait to watch it all again when the DVD comes out on November 12!

Published at KettleMag.com 

Brighton Journalist Works: Weeks 4 and 5

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Brighton Journalist Works, Reflections

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Is it just me or are the weeks going faster and faster? These past two weeks have been a blur of events and article writing.

Reporting

Last Tuesday we went to the ‘Biba and Beyond: Barbara Hulanicki’ exhibition at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and I wrote a review of it for my portfolio. My impression was that Biba was like the Abercrombie and Fitch of its day – the clothes were aimed at the young slender frame, and the stores were dimly lit with loud, thumping music. Only difference was that Biba didn’t cost an arm and a leg!

On Thursday we took a trip to the Magistrates’ Court! It was so bizarre being in the same room as potential criminals. It did seem to drag on a bit though – the magistrates liked to leave the room at lot to have a private chat and have a cup of coffee. We came back and wrote up the story – another one for the portfolio!

Shorthand

Teeline is getting very tricky indeed! We know how to join up most of the letters, including ‘f’ which is horrific, and we’re now learning shorthand prefixes and suffixes.

So many f words!

There’s so many little outlines to remember, and some are quite similar. I feel like my brain is becoming saturated with information. We’ve also been doing some unseen dictation and speed building to get us used to the exam format. If it wasn’t for Roxanne’s enthusiasm and Marie’s hilarious passages in the textbook, I don’t know how I would get through! Here’s a classic example from Marie involving youths causing havoc:

‘Vandalism in the town’

Events

As I’m thinking of doing my PA feature about drugs and alcohol in Brighton and whether the recovery services are working, I’ve been going to a lot of drug and alcohol related events. Last week I went to a talk from a doctor about the effects of alcohol, with an account from someone who had recovered from alcohol addiction.

Another night I went to a Brighton Chamber of Commence debate about whether the night time economy is affecting the Brighton Brand. Beforehand I spoke to some of the panelists and people from various companies in Brighton. The debate itself was very lively and I got a lot of insight into people’s opinions on alcohol as well as hen and stag parties in Brighton.

Last weekend I went along to the UK Recovery Walk which I reported on and got my first article on The Argus online! The atmosphere was amazing as I walked from Hove Lawns to Preston Park with thousands of people who had recovered from drug and alcohol addiction. I spoke to MP Caroline Lucas, the organisers, people from recovery services, and many people who had recovered. A truly inspirational day.

Okay, so this has nothing to do with my PA feature, but on the same day as the recovery walk I hopped on a train to London to see Michael McIntyre at the O2! I don’t think I’ve cried so much from laughter. He was absolutely hilarious, and as camp and posh as ever. So I decided to write another review to go in my portfolio – 4 articles in one week!

Guest Speakers

On Monday we met the famous blogger, Fleet Street Fox. She told us about her journey to Fleet Street and the painful truth about being a journalist. After thoroughly terrifying us she mentioned the benefits of journalism – you get front row seats to some of the best events, you know about things before anyone else, and you have the best stories to tell in the pub!

On Thursday we had another visit from Jon Jenkins. This time he told us how to source and write features as well as sell them on a freelance basis. Apparently freelancers can make between £5,000 and £30,000 a year part-time! He got us to do a bit of travel writing, as it’s the easiest to sell, so I wrote about Dubai and he said my intro was very good! We then wrote hypothetical interview questions for Jools Holland to write a celebrity feature (the second easiest kind to sell). He really inspired me to give freelancing a go.

So overall an extremely busy two weeks. Now I’ve got a few articles under my belt I really need to start thinking about my feature and PA feature. Oh and revising Media Law and PA…

Jack Whitehall review

05 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in 'KettleMag' articles, 'The Badger' articles, Arts, Comedy

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Article written for the 31/10/11 issue, and was also published on KettleMag this year: http://www.kettlemag.com/article/greatest-comedian-i-ever-saw-jack-whitehall

As Jack Whitehall strolled onto the stage to ‘Back in Black’, wearing skinny jeans and attempting to down a pint, shouting ‘It’s Saturday night, let’s all get wasted in Oceana!’ you can kind of see where he is coming from when he admits he is a bit immature. Understandably though, he is still only 23 and one of the youngest successful comics around.

Posh boy Whitehall has come to fame relatively quickly. After school he took a gap year where he decided to pursue a career in stand-up. He then studied Art History at Manchester, but later dropped out to concentrate on comedy. By the age of 19 he was offered his first weekend at the Comedy Store and since 2008 he has appeared on every panel-show imaginable. His recent acting debut in the comedy drama, Fresh Meat, where he plays an extreme version of himself, has been well received and now he’s off on his nationwide tour, ‘Let’s Not Speak of This Again’.

We should hate him really; he’s talented, young, attractive, and well on his way to becoming very wealthy and famous. But his immaturity works in his favour as he gains the popularity of the younger and student audience by talking about trash TV, student life, holidays with your mates, and sex. Pulling up his t-shirt to reveal a sunburnt penis on his chest just about sums this up.

Stereotypically middle-class Whitehall says that his immaturity has been the downfall in his relationships. He once forgot about a six month anniversary dinner, going to a fancy dress party instead. His girlfriend dumped him as soon as he came home wearing an alcohol sodden chicken outfit, totally pissed.

As he flounces about the stage, his jokes are immediately funny. His posh voice and slightly camp persona seems to have Michael McIntyre effect on the audience. He mentions how, growing up, his campness was not appreciated by his father.  His dad wanted him to be more macho, while Jack just wanted to wear tights and dress up as Robin Hood.

Jack is trying to be more grown up. The confessed mummy’s boy is now living away from home in rented accommodation and says he’s doing things he’s never done before. If a light bulb would go out, nowadays he would say, ‘Oh shit, I’m going to have to change that’, while at uni his response would have been ‘Oh fuck, we’re only going to be able to use this room in the day time!’ Now he finds himself spending his Saturday nights with a friend round, drinking herbal tea (not forgetting a coaster) and watching egg heads.

He ended the show with his favourite past time: mocking Robert Pattinson. Whitehall went to the same school as the Twilight star and is distraught that the fellow posh boy gets all the attention. Jack says he was interested in acting at school, but complains he was overshadowed by Pattinson, who always got the good roles. His encore entailed whipping on his chicken outfit and letting out his fury by reading from Pattinson’s autobiography, slating it all the way.

Jack Whitehall may still have some growing up to do, but we love him how he is, and he’s not going anywhere. Watch out for Jacks new show in January ‘Hit the Road, Jack’, where he’ll be visiting a different part of the UK every week, filming stand-up and messing around with the locals.