Mr Stanhope (or Mr Stan Hope as the misguided residents of Bisbee occasionally refer to him) is the comedy legend you've probably never heard of. His material is dark, off-kilter and befitting a man of his ill disposition, a drunk who dabbles in whatever form of recreational drug is on offer (he's saving heroin for the end).
You never know which Stanhope is going to show. I've seen him perform drunk, I've seen him perform jetlagged and I've seen him at the top of his game, firing on all cylinders. Tonight, he's high on edibles, claiming it's the first time he's performed a tour in this condition. This meant his comedic flow was often interrupted and he had to remind himself, Schizo-style, to return to his material, informing us this bit was meant to follow from a section he related earlier. It was still funny and the crowd kept themselves well behaved (no punch-ups tonight), with only the occasional unintelligible heckle.
He went very dark tonight, finding my line when talking about how he had to put down his fourteen-year-old dog at the start of Covid (not because of the virus - the dog was riddled with cancer), yet he somehow turned it around, pulling out the funny as he always does.
So while the show was uneven, it was still classic Stanhope. I will always make time to see him, no matter what measures God puts in place to cancel the show.
Thank you to Louise, Craig and Mark for saving me from having to walk to the end of the queue and for laughing at the jokes of the other old man in the room.
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