Rob Delaney’s latest show is called Meat. There is something perfect about the simple one-word title. Short and brutal and to the point. He also has a routine where he mentions meat, but that’s by the by. This is a show that strips the language of comedy right back to its raw, visceral basics. Yet at the same time it is one of the funniest, most sophisticated, jaw-snapping funny hours of humour you will see this year.
For those who have discovered Delaney through C4’s Catastrophe rather than his no-holds-barred Twitter account it may come as a shock though. Onstage Delaney, who looks like a debauched Jon Hamm, is far darker and far more gynaecological than in the acclaimed sitcom. Even when he is being political he is also pornographically crude. When singing the praises of the NHS – he is currently UK-based – he says he would happily perform a sex act on the health service.
His opening NHS routine sets out Delaney’s stall quite nicely. It reveals that, like Frankie Boyle, underneath the vicious swipes there is a heart pumping away. Even his filthiest, sickest routines – on fingering, watching an orgy through a crack in the floorboards – have a strange, poetic warmth to them.
Unlike Delaney's first show there is less autobiographical detail here, but there still seems to be plenty of honesty as he talks about wanting to fuck other women despite being married. He doesn't fuck other women though. As he points out there are other things he can do to keep existantal angst at bay with less negative consequences.
What is best about Meat is Delaney’s use of language and his knack for describing something perfectly, whether it is a rotting pair of underpants dating back to 1991, AIDS or what he would like to do with people using selfie sticks. There are plenty of sucker-punch quotable lines but to print them would spoil their impact.
Some might accuse him of misogyny, but he heads that one off at the pass too by explaining his distinctive brand of bigotry. I won’t reveal how, but I like to think that behind the self-loathing, self-deprecating couldn’t-give-a-shit attitude beats the heart of a true liberal that secretly cares about the world. His lusting over the NHS certainly seems to suggest that. I could be completely wide of the mark of course.
Rob Delaney is on tour. Details here.
