Played @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh on Fri 31 Oct @ 19.30 (on tour)
Struggling with a heavy cold Jeremy Hardy still managed – between bouts of coughing – to cast his wry eye and caustic wit over current events and society’s foibles. The Traverse audience were treated to nearly two hours of his fervent and entrenched views delivered in his trademark, slightly apologetic, middle England tones.
There are plenty of angry left wing comedians and plenty of didactic ones who come equipped with laptops and slides. But Hardy is more old school, reminding you of a disgruntled supply teacher. He’s been in comedy and campaigning for around thirty years, he’s marched the marches and probably chained himself to more than one railing and whilst he’s no less a true believer, you get the feeling he’s just as happy these days to get home and put the kettle on as he is to face down the system.
The first half of the show was politics. He talked, albeit briefly, about referendum and post-referendum Scotland, safely managing to steer an even course through tricky waters before moving on to gleefully filleting the Tories. Hardy’s a defender of political correctness, but he’s happy to give it a pass and indulge in some brilliant ad hominem attacks on the government front bench. It’s difficult to think of Michael Gove as anything other than a half-man half-fish hybrid after this show.
The Labour Party and Lib Dems don’t escape his sharp tongue either, with Ed Miliband’s ineffectual leadership mocked and Nick Clegg compared to a bad child actor. But, as you would expect, Tory-bashing is where he really comes alive.
In the second half of the show Hardy looks at gender roles, identity and respect. Ripping into the mentality of the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Littlejohn whilst admitting to confusion as to what being a white, middle-aged, middle-class, comfortable, heterosexual male means in the early 21st century.
Hardy might be the soft face of the hard left, but there’s plenty of sharpness and steel underneath his mild exterior and if his voice survives to the end of his tour it’s always well worth hearing.