Fittingly for a show based on the changing nature of fame, David Baddiel’s gig was the first at which — moments before it started – I got a tweet from the performer about blocking me on Twitter.
The details of our minor spat aren’t important but that the familiarity between the famous and the public is now so reduced is at the heart of this tour, Baddiel’s first in 15 years and filling the Norwich Playhouse for two nights.
It’s a soft show in many respects, weaving anecdotes from the time when Baddiel was a household name from the Mary Whitehouse Experience anda[umlaut]singing Three Lions to more recent minor indignities when on the edge of the public consciousness: beinga[umlaut]questioned about your career path in a supermarket car park or beinga[umlaut]recognised trying to bag priority seats on a Ryanair flight.
He tells the stories skilfully and there are lots of laughs, but there is an uneasy contradiction at its heart between his protestations at the problems of fame and Baddiel’s residual need to tell us he has met Madonna and sold out Wembley Arena. We all want to be liked, but to admit it can be unattractive.
The comedy rises above the self-indulgence though, leaving this an enjoyable and thoughtful show.
