Satirical singer-songwriter Chris Tavener's first live album and DVD (filmed and recorded in Manchester's Three Minute Theatre) is the best way to showcase his unique brand of comedy. One of the UK's hardest working performers (he's been known to perform 350 shows a year) Tavener has carved himself a niche in clubs and festivals around the UK.
Despite his initial off stage nerves which power-up his onstage persona, he's clearly very confident at musical stand up. From thought-provoking to down right silly, he's has got it all covered in his amusing and often self deprecating set. Not only is he happy to take the piss out of our hyperbolic love for celebrities in Praise Him, like all the best comedians he's happy to take his own personality traits and milk them for laughs in Faking Cool. Elsewhere he mocks divisive politics by pitching iPhone users against Android users in Phoney Supremacy and comments on first world problems in The Crisis in Northwich. Even the blues and the festival scene get derided; it would appear that no-one is spared Tavener's witty lampooning.
If you choose not to see the satirical undercurrents of his songs, they are humorous enough to stand alone without any hidden meanings. But, like all the best comedians, his on-stage tomfoolery means that he's able to say things and get away with them with a cheeky wink and a schoolboy grin.
Groupie Rating 4/5
