Andy Zaltzman: Satirist for Hire (World of 2017 Special Edition)

Andy Zaltzman
The Stand Comedy Club

Andy Zaltzman

As you descend into The Stand 3, Zaltzman stands at the top of the stairs asking for topics to turn into satire for the next hour. Others have e-mailed their subjects in advance (see the e-mail link on The Stand's web site). A show of hands to compare the number of people who e-mailed with the much larger number who meant to but didn't get around to it he takes as evidence of why democracy can never work.

The subjects at the show I attended included children, Barnsley Football Club and immigration. Zaltzman riffs on each topic eloquently and very wittily with what appears to be a combination of pre-prepared material (audiences are usually quite predictable) and improvisation, but it's hard to see the join.

There's plenty of banter with the audience too, with Zaltzman especially keen to teach the young 'uns in the audience a thing or two. And I'm sure he does.

The finale is a bizarre combination of computer editing of Trump speeches linked directly to Trump's brain using the latest scientific advances—I won't give away any more, other than to say he told us he hasn't yet left enough time to get through the whole routine. Maybe you'll be lucky.

But it's an intelligent hour of sharply observed satire in a show that is created just for you with far more inter-show research than most comedians have to do.

Reviewer: David Chadderton

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