Review of the Keith Lemon creator's debut live show

The abiding image of Leigh Francis’s first live tour after a couple of decades of small-screen success is probably Dec anally violating Ant with one of their many National Television Awards.

Is it sophisticated? Hell, no? Is it funny? Well, obviously, a bit. But with no deeper context, the simplistically crude scene becomes just another crude bum joke towards the end of an evening obsessed with them, to ever-diminishing returns. Even the audience – so enthusiastically clapping along on demand earlier in the night - seem to have much less enthusiasm by this point.

Francis may be older than the Prime Minister, but he retains the comic sensibilities of a 13-year-old boy, endearing in small quantities but increasingly reductive over a 90-minute show.

But let’s start with the positives. The exaggerated rubber-masked impressions which made his name retain a loose charm for their cartoonish crapness. On stage, his David Dickinson is engagingly ridiculous, all odd grunts and tics, while video skits nail Louis Theroux’s affected modesty; James Corden’s irritating fake enthusiasm, the mores of Gogglebox regulars, and Amanda Holden’s shameless skin-baring. 

Some of his better-known caricatures are, however, absent. A scene about his celebrity stalker alter-ego Avid Merrion time-travelling 20 years to the present day pointedly laments: ‘There’s a lot you can’t say or do any more … which is why there are certain characters we can’t do’ – failing to mention the blackface he employed for the likes of Craig David was already controversial back then, and for several decades before that, even.

When delivered briskly, Francis’s parodies offer a quick laugh for their silliness, broadly affectionate but with a flick of more pointed satire. However, in extending them, the relentless drive to the bottom - in both senses - becomes dull.

Mainstream ITV shows are his staple, with parodies of just about every primetime shiny-floor offering going. A rude version of Catchphrase is pleasingly puerile for having Prince Harry as a contestant struggling to get swearing right. A duet with a poo has a certain daftness, if owing a debt to South Park. 

Vic and Bob are a more obvious influence – right down to a club-singer style round in his knock-off revival of the long-running Celebrity Juice format, presented by his Keith Lemon persona. But this is what Shooting Stars would be if every bit of creative silliness and delightful surrealism were replaced with a broad dick joke.

Without the titular celebrities, this segment has to make do with audience members. As they try to burst balloons with spiked pool noodles attached to their waists, Francis insists they’re like penises – of course, he does. It’s the sort of participatory game Pontin’s might think too cheesy – but with added jokes about how many dicks Emily Atack has sucked. Classy

My First Time, runs through every moment of Francis career, which also sees him revive Myrtle - the thinly-drawn character of Holden’s grandmother that no one watched on TV. The skit starts with a reasonable bit of physical comedy as she tries to get on to a high stool, but is desperately underwritten when it gets to her saying something. And it’s never quite clear what the joke is, beyond Francis being in dress-up again.

And the night ends with his easily aroused Bear being, well, easily aroused. Like so much of Francis’ work, it’s visually strong but with a feeble script and an inescapable grubbiness that overpowers the initial charm.

Talented musical impressionist Jess Robinson has somehow attached her wagon to this as one of the sidekicks, but a girl’s gotta pay her bills, and the more people who witness her spot-on montage of musical divas the better. Francis’ regular collaborator, Adam C Booth, completes the small troupe.

My First Time probably does enough to sate Francis’ fans, but anyone left cold by the enduring success of this crass idiot will be left none the wiser by the show’s end.

• Leigh Francis: My First Time tours until April 7. Leigh ​Francis tour dates

Review date: 8 Mar 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Guildford G Live