This was the second time I've seen David Baddiel's Fame: Not The Musical and it is as funny, clever and insightful as it was when I saw the shorter version at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer. It's Baddiel's first stand-up show for 15 years and yet it barely feels as if he's been away. He's as sharp, perceptive and pathologically honest as ever. I'm not quite sure why Baddiel rubs some people up the wrong way. Maybe it's the fact that he is too successful at too many different things, from novels to movies (there is currently a musical of The Infidel in the pipeline). Maybe it's a latent undercurrent of anti-semitism in the UK that he touches on in his set – "north Londoner" is, apparently, a newspaper euphemism for Jewish. Anyway, if you ignore this show you are ignoring one of the smartest, most relevant shows in town and that's your loss. This review first appeared in the London Evening Standard here.
David Baddiel's first stand-up show for over a decade finds him exploring the timely topic of celebrity. In Fame: Not the Musical the erstwhile icon of laddish laughs candidly reflects on the fickle nature of modern stardom with a sharp insider's eye.
The bearded comic is well equipped to talk about the vicissitudes of being famous, having been an arena-filler and TV regular. He wittily recalls some unlikely scenarios, such as being approached during a sombre visit to Auschwitz and asked if his series Fantasy Football League was returning.
This is an unexpectedly touching monologue that is very much about contemporary as well as enduring issues. Twitter is mined for quick-fire gags and there are some skilfully told longer stories, many of them involving cases of mistaken identity. One particular gem suggests that Andrew Lloyd Webber should pop to Specsavers.
Name-dropping flies thick and fast. Baddiel is invariably the comedic fall guy, albeit cushioned by clever callbacks and pithy asides. One minute he is being blanked by Madonna, the next he is putting his foot in it at Russell Brand’s wedding. “Fame is like a ghetto but with less typhoid and more canapés,” he quips.
Notoriety might be a cruel mistress in an era when everyone with broadband is a critic, but it clearly gets you invited to the best parties.
Fame: Not The Musical is at the Menier Chocolate Factory until May 23. Details and Tickets here.
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