Sarah Millican: Chatterbox Live

DVD review by Steve Bennett

Chatterbox indeed. At a shade over 1hr 40mins, this is one of the longer stand-up DVDs out this year with Sarah Millican jabbering away as easily and as unselfconsciously as if she’d just popped around for a coffee.

Her backdrop at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre comprises crude drawings of cakes and a cock and ball – which seems as good a summary of her subject matter as any. ‘I’m a lot ruder than I am on the telly,' she warns, and indeed much of the material verges on the filthy.

But there’s an understanding that if you head below the belt, doing so in a soft Geordie accent renders it cheeky rather than gratuitous. However seemingly foul the discussion gets, it never seems offensive. Instead, she’s just a down-to-earth girl sharing a confidence with convivial, unassuming charm.

Millican chats a lot to the audience, too, adding to that feeling of relaxed intimacy and allowing their contributions to get laughs. Nor is it all sex, sex, sex – as she talks with wit and affection about her family relationships, her playful relationship with her boyfriend or the joys of living alone.

Sometimes the gags are a little cheap and easy, but generally she paints charming and funny scenes from everyday life, with genuine punchlines, to boot. She has more warmth than a four-bar fire and is simply great company for the full hour.

Extras are the material about divorce with which she launched on the circuit just a few short years ago, presented as ‘top tips’ and an interview conducted by stand-up Joe Lycett.