Frankie Boyle, Cambridge Corn Exchange

Over the weekend, we went to see Frankie Boyle’s live show at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Never heard of him? He’s one of the primary panellists (and probably the most consistently rude/offensive/’edgy’/dark one) on BBC’s “Mock The Week”, which we’ve always enjoyed, so we figured it was worth giving a go to the live show.

All in all, it was OK. There was a significant amount (I’d say probably 40-50%) that we’d already heard on Mock The Week, or other appearances he’s made, which I have to say I find pretty disappointing. Comparing his show to that of Dara O’Briain (who we’ve now seen twice) it was obvious that Frankie Boyle’s show was a lot more scripted, without the audience involvement that O’Briain brings to his show. Boyle’s conversations with the audience felt like they were pretty much a template, there wasn’t anything that flowed from those conversations, and so it all felt quite stilted in some ways.

Also, he was only on stage for seventy minutes. No encore at all – just a “Thanks, you’ve been great, bye.” at 10pm. Fortunately there’d also been a warm-up act, so it wasn’t a rip-off of Sarah Silverman levels – but I suspect we’d have felt a lot more annoyed if we hadn’t only paid £10 each for the tickets. (thanks to a ‘restricted view’ that really wasn’t)

So yeah, it was OK. I don’t think we’d bother going to see him again – in direct contrast to having seen Dara O’Briain twice in three years, as well as having the DVD of his live show – but it was OK entertainment for a Saturday night.