Andy Parsons: Britain’s Got Idiots

Having firmly established himself as ‘that bloke with the funny voice off Mock the Week‘, Andy Parsons has carved a niche for himself as Britain’s premier critical comedian, a smiling Jack Dee if you like. His gripe-fuelled set at the Lyric Theatre, packaged here as Andy Parsons: Britain’s Got Idiots, will only add to that reputation.

Parsons delivers a snigger-filled 90-minute show which snipes at everyone from Peter Mandelson to Karen Matthews. His set is filled with well thought out observations and complaints, basically amounting to an hour-and-a-half of moaning, which is actually a lot funnier than it sounds.

As always with panel show regulars there is the odd recycled gag that anyone with Freeview would have heard a million times before on Dave’s endless Mock The Week reruns. But, in fairness to Parsons these are kept to a minimum and are certainly nowhere near the levels seen on Frankie Boyle’s past DVDs.

Parsons sticks to succinct assassinations of all kinds of Britain-defining topics, from teachers being overprotective about their long summer holidays to the shambles that the 2012 Olympics will inevitably be, and it has to be said he does what he does very well. His stand-up style is just as it appears on Mock the Week, which is perhaps why he has become such a panel show favourite.

His set is filled with cultural and political references, with excellent material devoted to the recession and some forthright observations regarding the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Meanwhile, his lampooning of stars such as Jeremy Kyle and Trinny and Susannah prove a real hit with the Lyric Theatre audience.

Despite being a likable character armed with a decent set of material, there’s a few downsides to Parsons’ performance. While there are a constant stream of giggles and sniggers throughout the show, the number of belly laughs can be counted on one hand, and that’s being generous. Also Parsons’ verbose, snails-paced delivery grates after a little while and even the most patient of audience member would struggle to comfortably sit through the entire 90 minutes in one go.

Meanwhile, the very nature of the material is also a comedic minefield. Much of the set is dedicated to audience participation, which simply amounts to asking audience members their name and job. While there are some neat lines derived from this, much of the material is average at best and even the more amusing elements will always be funnier to those that were in the theatre than the punters sat at home.

However, on the whole Britain’s Got Idiots is a decent set and a more than respectable DVD debut for the Mock the Week star. A solid collection of extras, including outtakes, a Live at the Apollo set and a slightly bizarre at times internal monologue commentary, make it well worth considering among what is sure to be a bumper haul of live DVDs coming from all corners over the next month.

Special Features: How Not to Tell a Joke, Internal Monologue Commentary, Live at the Apollo Set, The Unbearable Malt Chocolateness of Extras

Andy Parsons: Britain’s Got Idiots is out now via Universal Home Entertainment

By Richard Chamberlain