This article is part of a series of reviews centred around my volunteering experience at Warwick Arts Centre, this time exploring my thoughts on stewarding Jonathon Pie’s comedy act ‘Heroes and Villains’. As a disclaimer, I had no knowledge of Jonathon Pie before the show, so my response is based on my first impressions of the material and its reception. Despite not knowing his work, I left in a buzz (which says something, considering I ended the shift picking up the rubbish of 1200 people).
Admittedly, I figured ‘Heroes and Villains’ was a comedy, so wasn’t completely unaware when I showed up to the pre-show briefing. The title was some inclination, but also the fact that it was in Butterworth Hall, our largest venue, on a Sunday night: chances of it being live music by a solo artist or a talk by a guest speaker at that time were low. Comedy made the most sense. In the briefing, I was told that we had sold all 1260 tickets for the venue- a little surprising given what day it was on- and that the warmup act would be 20 minutes, giving Pie roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes after an interval. This was standard, albeit slightly longer than usual for a main act. Pie maintained the audience’s attention and kept them reactive throughout, which I found particularly impressive considering his comedic act was almost entirely pre-scripted. He inserted a few one-liners and responded to audience cues (laughter, murmurs, etc) but his main jokes were clearly all pre-planned: he had a presentation on the screen, with sound effects and videos.
I’d heard one of the stewards say that Jonathon Pie wasn’t real, but it didn’t click what they meant until I looked into him myself. I thought they were referring to his act and that it was an odd way to describe a comedian who used a script and resources. After the shift, I researched Jonathon Pie to see what they meant. Initially, I was surprised to learn that he is a fictional character played by comedian Tom Walker. Th personna is a political correspondent who reports largely on British current affairs and politics. During the performance, I had swiftly guessed that reporting on politics wasn’t his real job (as if someone would be allowed to do that and be a comedian. Also, nobody has that sort of time) but didn’t realise that ‘Jonathon Pie’ wasn’t a real person. Either way, Pie/Walker’s routine presented politically-charged discourse in a ‘woke’ comedic voice, mixing hypocrisy, criticism and public opinion in his ‘reports’ on recent events and actions of politicians.
My thoughts on it? I wasn’t full-on laughing throughout the show, but I certainly scoffed and smiled a few times. I wouldn’t describe Pie’s comedic style as intending to provoke fits of laughter though; more so the kind that catches you by surprise. A few jokes went over my head, but that’s probably because I’m not intimately familiar with the policies and scandals of some of Britain’s MPs. Either way, I understood a lot more of the jokes compared to when I stewarded for Frankie Boyle and, though many of them blatantly critiqued politicians and royals, they were nowhere near as insensitive or distasteful as Boyle’s. In all fairness, I didn’t go into Pie’s show feeling very optimistic- in truth, I was focused more on what to eat when I got back and what work I needed to do- so would have laughed more if I wasn’t as critical from the start. Regardless, it lifted my mood and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Pie’s monologues about systematic failures at the hands of the filthy rich with filthy morals. His combination of witty comments and longer, multilayered jokes kept the audience and I engaged.
As for the stewarding itself, it went well. I was on one of the smaller doors, checking tickets for 100 or so people. During the performance, I didn’t tell anyone off for using their phones. One couple came in mid-way through the warmup, which wasn’t a problem as we’d been told at the pre-show brief to let any latecomers in during this time. The closest we came to a problem, I’d say, was that neither myself nor the other volunteer steward had a torch on us. Luckily, there weren’t many rows so it didn’t take long to guide this couple to their seats. Like with Frankie Boyle’s show, the warmup gave a notice about not using phones and that no readmitance with drinks was allowed. That is, you couldn’t leave mid-show to go to the bar and try to come back. This was reiterated by Jonathon Pie at the start of his act, where he said he’d directly humiliate anyone he caught on their phones. He threw in hypothetical insults to give the audience a taste of what they might hear. It worked. I enjoyed most of the show without glancing around in search of beams of light coming from mobiles.
In all, I was more than a little surprised by how much I enjoyed Jonathon Pie’s ‘Heroes or Villains’ performance, and would recommend him to anyone into comedy or political discourse. His jokes were largely accessible (yes, there was a significant focus on politics, but there’s a lot more that I could know about it and I managed to keep up) and switched between politics, the royals, Ghaza, America, cancer, today’s youth and more. Pie delved into current affairs, including a few references to past MPs to ridicule the state of Britain’s leaders. I enjoyed the show because I often didn’t expect these jabs, and he sounded at times like he was rapping because of how quickly he spoke. A persuasive, engaging man, that’s for certain. I’m not sure if I’d pay to see him again, but that’s because I’m chronically aware of my budget as a student and also prefer anecdotal comedy about someone’s misfortunes, but I’m grateful for the opportunity.