It's been a while since I last saw some live stand-up (in fact the last comedian I saw live was Bill Bailey at the M.E.N and I don't think anything will top that performance) but as soon as a mate told me Dave Spikey was appearing at the legendary Bolton Albert Halls, I thought I'd check it out.
I've always been an admirer of Spikey's work, especially the sensational Phoenix Nights, which he co-wrote with Peter Kay and Neil Fitzmaurice, but he also starred in the show as everyones favourite compere, Jerry "The Saint" St. Clair . But before Spikey turned to the comedy circuit, he used to work for the NHS, and this forms the basis for his observational material and the tour name itself "The Best Medicine: Repeat Prescription."
Now here's my first problem with the gig, it was effectively the same stuff churned out from his last tour (the repeat prescription being the clue there) and that was fine with me as I hadn't seen the previous tour, but after checking Youtube after the show, I saw effectively the same routine. This surely would annoy several people and the fact it shows laziness on his part that he can't be bothered to write new material. It seems he may have copied a certain trick of his former friend, Peter Kay.
To be fair, Spikey did two hours straight, something Kay hasn't done since 2003 probably. However, It did tend to drag quite a bit as he focused for what seemed like 30 minutes on the class clown from his school days. But the beginning and end of the material was brilliant. To start off, Spikey focused on local newspapers and how rubbish the headlines and stories usually are. There's nothing better than lampooning the industry that I want to be a part of.
He ended with some great audience interaction as he did a pop quiz, which focused on artists terrible lyrics. No one was exempt including the classic Pink Floyd lyric "we don't need no education" which of course is a double negative and also Des'ree's Life, which has the line "I don't wanna see a ghost. It's the sight that I fear most. I'd rather have a piece of toast (yes that song did reach the top 10)."
Overall, I enjoyed the performance although some of the jokes just seemed obvious and I could tell where they were headed. But the audience, being from Spikey's hometown, made up for that, with some great responses to Spikey's questions.
3 stars (yep I'm not creating a new ranking system, I'll stick with the good ol stars)
