Comedy review: Miranda Hart, Glasgow

ATTEMPTING to transpose the wild success of her slapstick sitcom into an all-conquering stage show at the Glasgow Comedy Festival was always going to be a risky adventure for Miranda Hart.

Miranda Hart

Miranda Hart - Hydro, Glasgow

* *

The sad result is a two-hour metaphorical pratfall with a set which has a baffling structure and depressingly poor content. Vaguely set up as a tacky party, Hart is tripped up by not knowing whether to fully capitalise on her exaggerated persona or just truly be herself.

Acting the fool on TV allowed her to book this tour, but the moments that work best on the small screen are diluted here. The glances and quips to camera are flat and her physical comedy is reduced to a McIntyre-lite series of daft walks. Comparing herself to Beyoncé gleans one of the few actual jokes of the night, but not to worry, we’ll all be singing along to I Will Survive for no good reason any minute now.

Blockbuster comedy tours seem to be a law unto themselves: there certainly won’t be a stand-up in any comedy club this weekend talking about the trouble they have putting on a duvet cover. And if anyone is going to tackle grumpy teenagers or brazen toddlers, it will have to be a darn sight more inventive than Hart’s “observations”. There’s room for many different kinds of acts in live comedy, but with a show as lumpenly bland as this, Hart should stick to the medium that serves her brand of daftness best.

Seen on 17.03.14