THE Daily Telegraph has described him as being, "Enlightening, clever and often painfully funny." The Guardian's verdict is, "He's a man with a passionate desire to communicate his ideas, who is also very funny." Time Out has called him "Splendidly subversive," writes NIALL CROZIER.
The man in question is BAFTA award-nominated comedian, Mark Steel (pictured below), currently on tour with a brand new show. And from a Market Place, Armagh perspective the timing could not have worked out better, for it means he is available to head
line this weekend’s May Bank Holiday Weekend Comedy Festival extravaganza.
Upon entering his 40s, Steel’s personal life began to disintegrate. But in the course of many sleepless nights on the sofa, watching inane cable TV into the early hours of the morning, he was able to ask himself the question, “What’s going on?”
That’s the title of a new show which goes right to the heart of Britain and the problems it suffers today. Topics discussed and dissected in the inimitable Mark Steel style include why over a million people marching in London couldn’t stop the war in Iraq and why supermarkets are killing the small town centres of Britain?
In the midst of this modern-day confusion he asks what ordinary people do about it. And in addressing these and related issues he comes up with bitingly funny, poignant, sharply observed and very much of the moment humour. This is Mark Steel at his brilliant, highly-intelligent best.
He has performed as a stand-up comedian on the British comedy circuit and on national tours since 1983. He has also written and performed four series of The Mark Steel Solution (Radio 4) and four series of The Mark Steel Lectures (Radio 4) - a collection of absorbing, half-hour profiles of historical figures.
The television version of The Mark Steel Lectures ran for three series on BBC4 and was nominated for both a BAFTA Television Award and a Royal Television Society Award.
Steel is also an acclaimed author, his latest book - also entitled ‘What’s Going On?’ - having been released in paperback by Simon and Schuster in August 2008. He is also a regular columnist for The Independent.
This subversive, witty and brilliantly erudite comedian will be on stage at Armagh’s Market Place Theatre tomorrow (Saturday) for one night only.
The starting time is 8pm and all seats are £12.70. To book, contact the box office (028 3752 1821) or visit www.marketplacearmagh.com
