Review of Lenny Henry: So Much Things To Say, Live

Introduction

Lenny Henry - the man, the myth, the paradox. On the one hand, he seems a genuinely nice man who does more than his fair bit for charity (albeit in rather disgustingly loud attire) and who, despite the `Black and White Minstrel show` as a youth, has given a light hearted voice to the West Indian Community in the United Kingdom over the past thirty years. Yet, on the other side of the coin, for a guy who would label his job as a `comedian`, he has little to offer in the way of being ACTUALLY funny; considering that faux-Jamaican accents and screaming don`t really count as proper humour.

Henry has only one other self-designated DVD release, the sketch show `Lenny Henry In Pieces` - meaning that `So much things …` should be a live comedy treat highly anticipated by his fans, of which there must be at least one. Yet there will be some surprises in store for those who did not see this tour live - for one thing, it is a diversion from the usual realm of stand-up comedy.

`SO MUCH THINGS TO SAY` steals a Bob Marley song title, and uses it to create a one-man show about the various generations` and genders` views on a variety of political and sexual issues. Toured in 2004, this show is split into two halves; the first taking us through some topical quasi-comedic observations about today`s music, political figures and lifestyles, intercut with Lenny`s characters, who then commandeer the second half for themselves.

The idea behind the show itself was to demonstrate that, whereas Lenny is a dab hand at creating first and second generation Afro Caribbean Brit characters, he is also able to inject a healthy dose of opinions into them, not only bringing them to life, but in the process hopefully entertaining his audience in a previously unseen way. As a result, it becomes a test of not only Lenny`s skills as a performer, but of his fans` patience.

Video

Being a relatively new stand up DVD, the picture quality is excellent throughout. The 16:9 aspect ratio works well and the on stage lighting makes the whole affair look rather dazzling - A great transfer from stage to screen.

Of course, his suit isn`t very visually appealing.

Audio

The aforementioned Bob Marley song (featured on 1977`s Exodus album) is used throughout, almost annoyingly so; with the only salvation coming in the fact that it is a remarkably excellent tune, and so remains preferable to lesser examples. The audio quality is sharp and precise in Dolby 2.0.

The show itself starts and ends with sound samples of people expressing their views on a variety of different issues, which is a clever idea and deserves applause … unlike the majority of Lenny`s material.

Features

The only extra feature is an interview with Lenny, his co writer Kim, and their creative consultant.

Explaining the idea behind the show, disecting each of the four characters and talking about his desire to do something a `bit different`, the interview (which lasts around 20 minutes) is arguably more entertaining than the entire stage show! Admittedly something of a self-congratulatory affair in places, it does however give some incite into the main feature and is worth watching if you enjoy Lenny`s Unique style of shrieking.

Conclusion

Watching a Lenny Henry live performance is comparable to inviting a long lost friend round for dinner and making the effort to cook a lovely big Roast Turkey for them ... only to discover that they`re a vegetarian. In other words, it`s a rather annoying waste of time which could be better spent doing something worthwhile.

Ok, so a little bit over the top, but it`s fair to suggest that `So much things to say` excels ONLY when it removes itself from the extremely well trodden path of traditional stand-up comedy - a sphere in which Lenny fails to come up to scratch compared to his rivals. For this reason, the first half of the show can be instantly dismissed as drivel; a man churning out thoughtless self-parody and tedious observation to a surprisingly good reception from his in-house audience, but with ultimately no comedic merit.

However, the second half does lift it slightly. By making this almost solely character based (as mentioned above), Lenny has obviously hoped he can win over any wavering non-believers with a more subtle line of attack - the human mind. In reality, this is an approach with mixed results - when it works then it is extremely well done, but when it doesn`t it deteriorates into terminally self-indulgent tat.

It seems harsh to criticise a man who, over the years, has done a great deal for both Comic Relief (although not in its original sense) and giving the British/JA community their answer to Richard Prior, so I won`t go too over the top. After all, I always thought of him as the kind of bloke that you could go down the pub with and have a few `sneaky Vimtos` whilst enjoying a nice relaxing chat. Yet, without professional credentials to match his obvious effort, I`m afraid that Lenny would be better chucking it all in and working in Oxfam full-time. They could do with a bit of help.