Express & Star

David Baddiel, Dudley Town Hall - review

If you thought this show was all about David Baddiel getting deep and serious about his upbringing and his father's dementia, think again.

Published
David Baddiel performing

It was an absolute rip-roaring performance about life, death and, most importantly, the crazy stuff that happens in between.

Whatever your background, pretty much everyone will class their family as deranged: we all have stories from our childhood, teenage years and early adult life that could make Roy Chubby Brown cringe – but that is what makes life worth living.

People of a certain generation will remember Baddiel from the 1990s classic Fantasy Football, which he co-hosted with Black Country-born Frank Skinner, with whom he penned one of the greatest ever England songs, Three Lions.

Baddiel co-hosted Fantasy Football with Black Country-born Frank Skinner during the 1990s

But he is so much more than that. The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel In Pieces, and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned are some of just his TV exploits.

Add to that his seven books and the hit indie film The Infidel, he is one of the most talented and, arguably, most underrated writers of his generation.

His latest effort is stand-up show My Family: Not The Sitcom, which was performed in Dudley Town Hall last night.

Funny, sad, joyous, traumatic but, most of all, hilarious, Baddiel had the audience gripped, panicked and confused from the off.

The premise is about his father, Colin, who has been diagnosed with Pick's Dementia.

Part of his condition is he now swears constantly, can be aggressive and, on occasion, comes across as extremely rude – but, as the host puts it, he was always like that anyway.

Every family has their quirks and funny moments, but to speak about it on stage and deliver it in a way that everyone can relate to is where the talent really lies.

David Baddiel and his father Colin

However, the show's real star is Baddiel's late mother, Sarah.

Blunt and uncompromising, but also extremely loving, the crowd was brought into the world of a typically-Jewish mother, who also happened to enjoy a 20-year affair, right in front of the noses of her family, without ever actually confirming it.

Far from being annoyed, Baddiel explained it was the affair that made his family what it was, and even went as far as beaming pictures on the stage screen of his late mother and her lover at family events – and then zoomed in on his father, in the same picture, who clearly did not care a jot.

Some of the love letters he read out, which he had accidentally come across while clearing out his mother's room after she had passed away, would need an 18-plus certificate.

Despite the affair, however, his parents still loved each other, and he went even further to describe how he would hear the bedroom walls shake on occasion . . . We'll leave that one there.

David Baddiel and his mother Sarah

The second half of the show was dedicated to his father and included everything from his 'wind' being so foul it could close a shop, to swearing in comedic fashion at his carers.

Most of all, the show was a loving tribute to his family and the wonderfully-crazy upbringing he had experienced, which so many people in the audience could relate to.

As he so aptly put it, not everyone has to deal with dementia, but everyone has to dealt with loss. It's how you deal with it that keeps you (slightly) sane.

Baddiel has chosen to share his experiences with the UK. His way of dealing with the pain, suffering and illness is by laughing about it.

And I think I speak for everyone who was at Dudley Town Hall last night that we're so glad he did.