Lee Evans
NIA, Birmingham
Review by Lisa Wright

Comedian Lee Evans brought his unique brand of frantic stand-up comedy to Birmingham on the first of five nights performing his new Roadrunner tour.

The tour has already broken box office records by selling more than 227,000 tickets across 14 cities nationwide to become the fastest and biggest selling UK comedy tour of all time.

And his popularity was evident as people arriving to see the show were faced with huge queues to get into city centre car parks, many of which were full to capacity, while traffic clogged the streets around the lower end of Broad Street and the NIA.

Streams of people were still being shown to their seats throughout the first 30 minutes.

Performing to a packed crowd at the city centre venue last night, the 47-year-old comedian showed he still had the energy, enthusiasm, and jokes, to keep the crowd in stitches. The mammoth two-hour show kicked off with an animated film strip before Evans took to the stage wearing a black suit and white shirt.

His repertoire included everything from references to the Birmingham riots, breaking down on the motorway, and weddings, to the perils of budget airline travel and bankers.

“You can’t spot criminals these days,” he said. “It used to be muggers and hoodies took your money, now they are called bankers.” Peppered with anecdotes and booming vocal sound effects, the comic went through a multitude of facial expressions and slapstick, and he literally could not keep still – as the sweating showed.

Evans finished with his classic ‘signed’ performance to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.

And on finishing he thanked the audience, revealing he had written the show in the city and had even run it past audiences during a number of low key performances ahead of the tour at the city’s Glee Club. All in all an enjoyable show, with plenty of laughs along the way.

Anyone planning to see the show this weekend, should be advice to get there early to beat the queues. The show runs until Monday.

See also – Jonn Penney on Lee Evans