Award-winning joker Alfie Brown is on the comeback tour after a year when he was 'cancelled.' And the route for that comeback winds through Nottingham...
Alfie Brown describes his act as ‘woke jokes in a non-woke way’. So, members of the nearly full audience at the Canalhouse last night had the perfect chance of find out what that means.
Alfie bounces onto the function room’s cosy set. So intimate, at times it felt like he was sitting on our collective laps. Breaking the ice, he picks on a couple unwisely sitting in the front row. The idea is to prize a few laughs from whatever personal information they offer up to him. Only this couple, it transpired, work in law enforcement tracking down online images of child pornography. Can’t get more serious than that. But Alfie demonstrated his unflappability, not to mention sheer chutzpah to go where angels fear to tread, and yes, he ripped a few laughs from their upsetting work.
Ice well and truly broken, he launched into his routine. Hurling out statements that seemed ‘woke’ enough, only to add a punchline that subverted the whole meaning to something much darker. Sexual orientation, marriage, fatherhood and family, social media, empathy, language and meaning were among his themes. In a nutshell, he’d make outrageous jokes to provoke the audience’s sacred cows, then leave you wandering if he meant what he said or the complete opposite. Perhaps he wanted us to question how far we’d go espousing good intentions before we drew a line. Or to put it another way, was he teasing out what he sees as the hypocrisy in our much-cherished wokeism?
This was comedy with all the safety protocols switched off.
That then, was what ‘woke jokes in a non-woke way’ meant. This was comedy with all the safety protocols switched off.
Alfie cuts a charming but enigmatic figure in the spotlight. The mane of curly hair, surely the bluest eyes in stand-up, the tatty jeans and old sweatshirt. Even if he insults you, it is impossible to dislike him. On the other hand, some of his expressions and voices were almost scary.
Early on, he asks aloud who believes in redemption. I see where this going, you might think. Alfie is on a quest to redeem himself, after experiencing public disfavour last year when some old controversial comments surfaced. Or maybe he doesn’t give a monkey’s and this is merely more grist to the mill of career building.
Who knows, figure it out yourself. If nothing else, Alfie Brown is challenging you to think. So definitely go and see him for a night of laughter. Just leave your sacred cows outside.
Alfie Brown's Open Hearted Human Enquiry Tour appeared at the Canalhouse on Thursday November 7th 2024 as part of the Nottingham Comedy Festival.
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