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Metro
23 August 2004
Rating (out of 5): 
Subtitled the Jim Davidson Guide to Equality, Laurence Clark's show is a timely riposte to the dated attitudes of the still-popular Tory comic. Clark takes as his starting point an incident in which Davidson refused to play to an audience that included around 30 people in wheelchairs, on the grounds that so much of Davidson's show was based around making fun of people with disabilities. Performing from a wheelchair himself, Clark makes a number of jokes about the same subject, but he seems more then happy about squaring up honestly to it.
Using a series of film clips and statistics to back up his arguments, Clark attacks the insularity and hypocrisy of Davidson's attitudes, before then going on to do the same thing for Tony Blair. Succinctly using his own personal experiences to make wider political points, Clark's show could be a bit sharper in places - it seems like a missed opportunity to paraphrase some of Davidson's comments, when the truth about what The Generation Game host says on and off-stage is even more extreme.
But anecdotes as funny as Clark's trip to Durham Cathedral, where he is classed as a fire hazard and surrounded by burning candles, ensure that his show has enough laughter to balance out the more serious messages.
Let's hope Clark gets to expand and develop this brand of comedy; if Davidson follows through on his promise to leave the country for Dubai after the next election, there may be a post at The Generation Game that needs filling.
