Sarah Millican’s third live DVD finds the South Shields stand-up superstar discussing a radical change in her life. After years of renting flats she has recently bought a house and is delighted because she “really missed going upstairs to bed.” The downside, however, is having to go downstairs to eat, which Millican likes doing. A lot. There is a great gag in this show in which she runs through how many meals one can actually manage in a day if you simply put in the effort.
And put in the effort is what Millican does with her comedy. Yes, a lot of material is about two favourite topics of food and sex, but she has refined the formula to perfection. Every line is delivered with a laugh in mind. And she has an engaging inclusive style which makes everyone feel like part of the show. There is plenty of her trademark smut, of course, From an opening gambit about anal sex in Preston to asking the audience for alternative words to the below-the-waist condition she calls “claggy”.
But it is not all filthy frivolity, biscuits and quips about her “fella”. Towards the end there is an extended routine about body fascism – not that Millican is so pretentious that she calls it that – which is as good an indictment of one of modern society’s ills as I’ve ever come across. Kate Moss gets a particularly pithy tongue-lashing. Millican also touches on the split with her pre-fame husband without malice or rancour, but with a great punchline.
Some live DVDs look suspiciously like the cut-aways to the crowd laughing have been bought as a job lot or found in a skip. Not here. I don't usually comment on the editing in live DVDs but the shots of the Newcastle audience in stitches really show just how funny Millican is and how well she touches a nerve with her fans. Definitely one for your mam this Christmas, whether she gets claggy or not.
Buy Home Bird Live here.
