Comedy: Chris Mcglade: Forgiveness, Laughing Horse at City Cafe
Chris Mcglade: Forgiveness, Laughing Horse at City Cafe, * * * *
He has a unique comedy voice – part emotional and political powerhouse, part working men’s club gagster.
He is no respecter of personal space and you can find yourself almost literally eyeball to eyeball with the man as he gets vehement on the subject of friendly but non-PC joking in a multi-ethnic, working class community, the spiky friendship between his father and his Pakistani accountant or the impressive CV in direct action that he has built up over the years.
The laughs in a Mcglade show are big, old-fashioned, belly-laughs, and with them he buys himself the space to tell his story, in this instance, the horrific murder of his father and how he came to terms with it. He builds up with hilarious descriptions of life with his hard drinking, heavy smoking, frequently violent parents, his impoverished upbringing and the legacy of the Black Irish.
The overly woke would probably have PTSD for weeks after this show, but I defy even them not to fall about laughing at the section about his parents’ smoking.
The heart of the show is the death of his father and how he came to forgive his killer. He deals with this in classically in yer face Mcglade style. Emotions are raw and massive and it is a tribute to the relationship he has built up with the audience that we stay with through all of this. A unique experience. You might need a drink afterwards.
KATE COPSTICK
Until 25 August