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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson
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As a long term fan of Al Murray’s pub landlord character I was keen to see this new show. Everyone knows it’s a pint of beer for the gent and a glass of wine or fruit based drink for the lady, what new angle would he bring?
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Post pandemic the show is based around how we’ve all survived the crisis of our time. “We are Survivors” he proclaims, and it’s true. We’ve all made it through the last 2 years of craziness and maybe we’re ready to laugh about it; about how we did what our Queen and country demanded and we sat on our sofas and did nothing!
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Al Murray has a wonderful knack of engaging with (picking on?!) the audience, asking people’s names and professions. I nearly wet myself laughing when he had us clapping enthusiastically for a Fireman, only to find he’d misheard Farmer. Kevin was a pig farmer with 5,000 pigs, which got a few mentions throughout the evening.
There were the “Hollister Hard-ons” down the front, and “Grandpa” who was asked if he could remember his name. Three nurses got a lot of attention, and some slobbering from Al, and yes we clapped for the NHS.
He had us pounding our chests for “Family” and “Friends”, which are of course the most important staples of British culture. He took the mickey of us getting two extra weeks of lockdown so that Nicola could look different….
Oh and the Boris Johnson impression…. priceless and hilarious, although he doesn’t do impressions, nope!
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Al Murray has a unique way of presenting some facts about our country. His pub landlord character is not PC and we love him for that. He’s funny and observant and got a fabulous twist on life. Oh and that beer just kept flowing…all over the stage and audience at some points!
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I highly recommend catching this show if you can, goodness knows we all need a laugh!
Further information and tickets for the ongoing tour: https://thepublandlord.com/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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