Miles Jupp at the Palladium

This was a spur of the moment gig for me. Saturday night and I didn't have plans. And gigs like this are often very nearly sold out, but just have the odd single seat left. So indeed I picked up the last single seat in the central stalls from the website and duly printed off my e-ticket.

Now I had seen Miles Jupp acting on stage, and I listen to the News Quiz on the radio which he chairs, so I thought I would see how he does at stand up. Another comic to tick off my list.

After the gig I was left thinking whether I had got too used to my intimate gigs at the Fox or Soho Theatre. As this was the Palladium, intimate is not the way you would describe the venue. Audience interaction was zero, although I have enjoyed many comics who do no audience stuff so wouldn't hold that against him at all. I think possibly more the problem for me was the length. I think I have got used to short sets not exceeding an hour. And in a small venue where the audience feels more part of the act, even if it isn't, it doesn't feel quite so long. I fear my attention span may be deteriorating as I found myself drifting off a couple of times during the two 45mins + halves.

All of which is a pity as I both much enjoy his self-deprecating style and wordplay. This is a man who is educated. A nice bit on how polite we middle-class English are was illustrated by a putative profuse expression of gratitude at a waiter bringing bread in a restaurant along the lines of thank you so much for the perfunctory carbohydrate delivered by someone so winningly sullen.

And for those of us who are of a certain girth, loved his exchange with his wife. "Darling, what do you like most when we are in bed." "I like you a bit slimmer." And the response to an enquiry as to whether she wanted to have sex. "No" would have been a perfectly acceptable response. "God no" just a bit too much.

That might give you a flavour. A lot of good material which I enjoyed. But not laugh a minute stuff, and I left feeling how it might have been better assembled. Maybe in a series of shorter chunks on the radio?

A good evening, don't get me wrong. Don't regret my impulse buy.