We had tickets for Maisie Adam on Larry's Glasgow tour date, so off we trotted to Stirling. Only my wife had a cold, so the 'we' became Bob and me. We'd been to a WIP for this tour at the Fringe last year, and I was curious to hear the end product. I was confused, though, as to why the gig was proceeding, given Larry was a member of the SNL UK cast. Paddy Young and Ania Magliano's tours had been rescheduled (in some cases twice) because of SNL. Then it twigged. The show wasn't on this weekend.
The drive to Stirling Uni was smooth, apart from all the nutters on the road. We found a space in the car park, asked a couple for directions to the venue, and confirmed that parking was free at night, contrary to the notices. We bought drinks at the bar and waited at a table in the cafe until the doors opened.
50s rock ' n ' roll music played over the PA. We had central seats in row G, so the view was good. Another couple insisted we were in their seats, but they were wrong. They were supposed to be in the row behind. Ha! Egg on her face.
At 8pm, Larry introduced his support act, Krystal Evans. I'd heard most of her set before, but her jokes worked well (apart from the ones that bombed). It didn't feel like a tight set, more a jumble of her material from over the years. She didn't die, which was good.
After the interval, Larry did his thing, opening with some local stuff and a bit about accents. His mate, Steve, sat in the front row, which briefly distracted him. The show follows Larry's journey to marry his partner, Mikey, from thinking about proposing to getting married, with stops along the way, such as discussing the encounter with the real King Charles, whom he plays on SNL.
It was interesting to see how much material got cut or trimmed for the show compared to the WIP. In Edinburgh, his Iranian family material was much longer. The beauty of Larry's delivery is that some of the material feels off the cuff, but it later feeds a callback. Sometimes he sounded like Billy Connolly in tone and cadence, which I mean as a compliment. I don't imagine, though, that Billy would have pulled the physical moves that Larry pulls.
The one line that stuck with me was about his relationship with his partner, now husband: "The best way I can describe it is: I'm the bread, and he's the toaster." (The part unsaid: it comes out brown?)
A funny guy. I hope he gets nominated for the GICF Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow award one day. He deserves it.
Ticket Price (for two): £48 & Booking fee £1 = £49.00 from MacRoberts Arts Centre box office.
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