Alan Partridge Live: Stratagem

Firstly, Mr Coogan, should your read this, I am sorry for this review

I saw this pop up on prime and I was very excited as I had no idea there was a live show of one of my all time favourite comedy characters of all time, I have seen all the series, and some of the podcasts, the film, and love them.

The first 20 minutes of this really made me laugh, then turned into a weird segment (no spoilers but about 20 minutes in) which was just so odd and left me scratching my head, it wasn't funny, and it wasn't Alan Partridge. I stress again, I am a real fan of the character and the series

I struggled on, and an hour in with 20 minutes to go, I really wished I had stopped after 20 minutes, I am currently writing this review while watching the last 20 minutes but its just not funny, it goes from odd segment to odd segment, I feel quite sad honestly, I really thought this was going to be great, I know this review is a little vague because maybe its just me? And I don't want to leave spoilers

In short, I think the character only works with script writers, this feels like Mr Coogan has tried to carry on the character with no help from good script writers, maybe he did have them, maybe I am being unjustly unfair in presuming that Steve Coogan wrote all this alone, but if he did, he shouldn't.

3/10. First 20 minutes or me 8/10 and then awful afterwards.

There's no question that Alan Partridge is one of the greatest comedy creations in British TV history. The subtlety and sharpness of Mid Morning Matters or The Oasthouse podcast is about as good as comedic writing gets.

Stratagem, however, is complete trash. This format simply doesn't work well for this character and I think Coogan knows this. Every joke seems forced and the overall performance is far more slapstick than parody.

The reaction of the crowd tells you everything. They are quiet and look visibly bored. In fact, many people look quite agitated as if their intelligence is being insulted by this shoddy effort.

Really terrible stuff from Coogan. Not my words, the words of Shakin' Stevens.

I had high hopes for this and all I can say is I'm glad I didn't make the effort to go and see it live (something I very nearly did)

It's hard to provide a synopsis of the show as it's just so odd and confusing. One thing though is abundantly clear, with this and indeed any other modern Partridge stuff, and that is it lacks the input of Armando Iannucci. Neil and Rob Gibbons are fans first and directors/script writers second and as with all geeky fans the concept and character has become far too deep and detailed in all the wrong ways. They seemed to have evolved Alan Partridge into a quasi cool, reformed success. You do see glimmers of the old Alan we know and find hilarious peppering the show and the little pre recorded snippets with the fabulous Felicity Montague as Alan's long suffering PA, Lynn Benfield are amusing. Unfortunately for the most part though, the show is weird, disjointed, confusing and rather sadly, simply not funny.

The first half of the show is palatable if not particularly amusing but the second half of the show is genuinely awkward and almost desperate in its execution. The singing doesn't work, the narrative is weak and the entire show makes you cringe but not in the way Alan Partridge should.

It's a sad demise and the combination of Neil and Rob Gibbon's weak abilities and Steve Coogan's complete loss of focus for the character and dare I say it arrogance, has led to this being a complete train wreck of a show. Perhaps the saddest element of this is they've dragged the character of Alan Partridge down with them.

It really needs to be watched to appreciate how poor it is - you'll be left gob smacked I promise you...

There is a parody at the very start of the show of a famous musical that was highly strained, but maybe that's the whole point as this is *Partridge* after all. If you enjoy his new Podcast, 'From the Oasthouse', then you will at least enjoy some of the gags on offer here, but perhaps not all of them. I adore Partridge old and new, but even I was glad I hadn't paid to see this live! It just falls short in so many places, and I think it's a shame really because with a bit more polish it could have been superb. The songs are haphazard and plain odd in their construction and narrative. The 'plot', is really thin and falls flat very quickly. The performances are good, Coogan is quintessentially Alan, and the other cast members are basically okay. But not great. One in particular is just annoying and I was glad that section ended quickly. Old favourits make an appearance, but for what purpose I couldn't quite fathom as this didn't add anything to the show other than a cameo or two. Yet, it is still funnier and more enjoyable than 90% of the competiton, so I don't think it should be royally trounced for being simply unfunny. This seems a bit too unfair to me. The onscreen cutscenes between theatre changes are pretty funny and many of the jokes do raise a smile or two. It is more like his recent content then classic Partridge, but that is no bad thing. I am grateful Coogan and Co still continue to breathe life into this beloved character. This maybe a bit more Monkey Tennis than an episode of Swallow, but if you like a bit of Partridge then that's no bad thing.

It's not peak Partridge. It feels slightly slapdash and not as slick or as well prepared as I would expect. The points where Steve Coogan is reading the dialogue could have been passed off as 'character' but it's clear it isn't. The whole show feels less than thought through with no structure and no real comedy. Just a shameless cash I. Even on the recording a vast proportion of the audience look bored to tears and the ensemble work hard with minimal material.

It's a shame as Alan Partridge is one of the great comic creations but this just felt tired, repetitive and low energy from the get go.