Photo: Shay Rowan
Theatre Review
The King’s Arms Theatre, Salford
Part of The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival
A familiar face on television (and team
captain of BBC’s ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’), Phill Jupitus performed some of
his early (and most recent) poetry in the guise of his alter-ego ‘Porky The
Poet’. Saying that, there was no discernible difference between the Phill
Jupitus we know, and the poet standing with a comically malfunctioning iPad before
us tonight. In the Spartan, unpretentious space of the upstairs theatre at
Salford’s popular King’s Arms pub, this was a pretty laid-back evening with
plenty of smiles and a few loud guffaws. Nothing too outrageous or
near-the-knuckle (save for the odd one or two cheeky, expletive-sprinkled
tales). After a slightly nervy start, Jupitus relaxed into an hour long set
involving rifling through reams of stationery, to regale us with short poems
mainly involving going to music gigs as a young man in the 70s and 80s (his
cherry being well and truly popped by the legendary Debbie Harry and Blondie).
A variety of friends and fans in the audience led to some gentle banter, and a
lovely moment of improvisation when a mobile phone went off. Questioning the
red-faced punter about his choice of ringtone, Jupitus and his audience were
delighted to hear that it was a little-known 80s band by the name of ‘Desperate
Moment’. Instant Karma, one might say.
Jupitus’ ‘roly poly funnyman’ (as he
described himself at one point) persona worked its charm as the evening wore
on, and there was a definite warm glow in the room. Talking about his
childhood, and the fact that he never knew his biological father (an Irish
barman, who ran home to Cork on discovering Jupitus’ mother was pregnant), Phill
gave us a short but brutally honest poem about his feelings for the man. It was
on a visit to Cork that he came across the funniest newspaper headline he’d
ever seen: ‘Cork Man Drowns’ (and yes, he did have to explain it). There was
also a great anger at our current Government and the assumed entitlement of the
ruling classes. A tale about the notorious Hollywood film star Tallulah
Bankhead regularly popping to Eton to enjoy sexual encounters with the head
boys was pretty eye-opening. As was her fate; spied on by M.I.5., and
eventually deported. Jupitus had much to say about the state of the arts in
Britain today, and illustrated his points with reference to the Red ladder
Theatre Company in Leeds having its whole grant cut, while Opera North were
awarded millions. The evening was a charity event in aid of a local school, and
Jupitus gave a big thumbs up to The King’s Arms, and its owner Paul Heaton’s
(of The Beautiful South fame) work to keep the free fringe alive and well.
All in all, quite a pleasant,
undemanding evening, that felt more like a friendly session with an old mate
than an actual gig. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
Reviewed on 9th July
Originally published at www.thepublicreviews.com
Tags: Phill Jupitus, Kings Arms,
Salford, Porky The Poet
No comments:
Post a Comment