Comedy review: Stephen Merchant - Hello Ladies
IF, AS promised, this is Stephen Merchant’s first and last stand-up tour, the 6ft 7in comic has not only escaped Ricky Gervais’s shadow, he has eclipsed the recent live showings of his creative partner.
Ostensibly, Hello Ladies is a portrait of Merchant’s romantic misadventures. From misplaced adolescent faith in a Blue Peter badge’s seductive properties, to the contemporary, technology-enhanced vision of his looming, 36-year-old face bearing down on any prospective conquest, he laments at pitiful length the lack of action “chez Steve”.
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Hide AdUnlike Gervais, the Bristolian was a stand-up before attracting television acclaim and he’s markedly more successful at transferring their patented, broadcast blend of arrogance and vulnerability to the stage.
Perpetually dropping mentions of his awards, the press clippings he shares nevertheless place him in an even more marginalised, unattractive frame. Moreover, this multi-millionaire is keen to protest too much at splashing cash on a date and performing most of the physical exertion in the bedroom.
The broad West Country accent and humiliations engendered by his height endear him further but there’s substance to Merchant’s stylish performance too. An account of being trapped in a boring wedding conversation is delivered with the beat-perfect rhythms and punchline of a well-written sitcom.
An encore recreation of his painfully earnest GCSE drama composition drags a bit but this is otherwise hugely entertaining and on a par with his best television work.