CityLife

MOST kids, at some point or other, have put on a performance for their family and friends - whether it be little Edie's endless twirling in a pink tutu fashioned out of birthday wrapping paper, or Sidney Junior's interpretation of the Rambo film he shouldn't have seen round Uncle Pete's house the previous weekend.

Last night (Sunday) at The Lowry must have felt reminiscent of one of those childhood performances for Mancunian Chris Addison who was rounding off a short, seven-date tour in his home conurbation.

Inevitably, there were going to be a lot of people he knew and/or shared DNA with, in the room.

Proud Ma and Pa were in attendance; former Manchester Grammar schoolmates were present (indeed there were a couple of mentions of former teachers just for them) as were the parents of his godchildren who take a starring role alongside the Millennium Eye in a routine halfway through the gig.

Unbelievably busy

Addison’s been unbelievably busy of late ,writing his and Carl Cooper’s (who was also there) sitcom, Lab Rats, filming the Thick of It movie in the States and writing a book about the distribution of blame - It Wasn’t Me.

Consequently he’s not written a new stand up show since 2005. However, itching to back in the car and on the road (or even on the coach if his opening routine is to be believed… ) and with more people knowing who he is thanks to telly appearances in the likes of The Thick of It and Lab Rats, he decided to do a short run of greatest hits style shows.

The material was cherry-picked from his stand up sets, past Edinburgh shows and those that were committed to radio series - The Ape That Got Lucky and Civilisation.

Whether you’d heard the gags before was irrelevant, it still proved as mint and funny performed afresh by Addison while flinging his gangling frame about the stage.

Man in a fez

He opened almost unsure of where to start in the plethora of material on offer ,selecting the games you invent when travelling on motorways with the kids, “don’t speak until you see a man in a fez,” and his classic Daily Mail rants.

He also took the rare opportunity to express his regret to a room of northerners that the south (where he now lives) just don’t do parkin – we were shocked, I tell you.

The second half took much from his always acclaimed, often award-nominated and sometimes award-winning full-length shows.

Here there was plenty of evidence of Addison’s distinctive style - intelligent, informative research followed up by a supremely silly joke.

Attracted a giant monkey

On evolution he notes that we share 98 per cent of DNA with chimpanzees, unsurprising considers Addison, as ‘after a hard day’s shifting pianos we both like a nice cup of tea.’

Elsewhere, there are musings on why the builders of the World Trade Centre should have learnt from experience that tall buildings entice trouble as ‘last time the Empire State building attracted a giant monkey’.

And how most of the greatest innovations were invented by accident such as the chair turning out to be a handy thing to sit on after it was created to fend off lions. 

Ah, how we’ve missed him. Don’t leave it so long next time, will you? 

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