Merton’s show at Warwick Arts Centre is ‘lame’ and ‘feeble’

I’VE loved Paul Merton’s brand of deadpan humour for years and so did have vague doubts about seeing him live at Warwick Arts Centre last Friday night.

Sadly, my fears were justified. Paul’s show was corny, outdated and frankly lame.

I’m glad he’s not ashamed to mention his past visits to the Maudsley psychiatric hospital in London. Indeed one of the few times I found myself smiling was when he retold jokes about fellow patients who think people on TV are talking to them anyway - and so what a shock it must be to find them standing alongside a character from television waiting in the dinner queue.

But it just wasn’t enough.

Certainly some of the 1,000 plus who packed the Butterworth Hall were laughing. Though I rather suspect not as many as you might have expected.

There were some intriguing special effects thanks to Paul’s three-strong crew of assistants - not to mention a rather surprising ventriliquist’s dummy. But I don’t expect a humourist of Paul’s quality to stoop to having to do sketches about the Dragon’s Den.

I guess he was trying out stand-up skills that have been obsolete for the last few years and so he had to keep going back to Have I Got News For You and clinging on to it, like a lifejacket.

As far as I was concerned, it didn’t stop him sinking almost without trace.

Verdict: Lovely man, slightly feeble show.

Barbara Goulden