Review by Steve Bennett

The creation of erstwhile Big And Daft man Ian Boldsworth, Ray Peacock comes across as the sort of stereotypical bluff, no-nonsense Northern comic that's so instantly recognisable that you feel sure it must have been parodied before.

But Boldsworth does make the character his own, blustering on stage with full-on aggression, laying into the audience regardless of whether or not they deserve the savage verbal mauling they receive.

As an attention-grabbing opening, it certainly works, and there's just enough of a glint in his eye to suggest he doesn't mean it. Probably.

However this arresting opening seems to be the only real raison d'etre for the character, which is treated very loosely.

Much of the subsequent observational humour, much of it with a topical edge, could be performed by almost any comedian. Anyone, in fact, but the ignorant, unreconstructed Yorkshire comic Boldsworth appears to be portraying, who would surely be more at home with Paddy gags?

The material is strong enough - especially when it meanders off into quirkier areas - but why hide it behind a character if you're not presenting a distinctive, self-contained viewpoint as Al Murray's Pub Landlord, for example, does?

An enjoyable act, though. Just don't heckle

Review date: 1 Mar 2003
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett