Review by Graham Finney
Comedian Mark Steel has a lot to get off his chest and, as his opinions on a range of subjects pour out of his head, there are more than a few people in the audience at a very sold-out City Varieties Hall in Leeds who are nodding in agreement as they wipe away the tears. You see, a quick look around the venue and it would appear that Steel is playing to an audience made up of people just like him – couples hitting their forties and fifties who have been or are going through the exact same annoyances, frustrations and daily struggles that their host is battling with.
Fresh from a divorce, which Steel talks about in details later in the show, the “Every Little Thing’s Going To Be Alright” tour is Steel essentially ranting for a few hours about everything that is wrong with Britain. Yes, you could level the argument that, on the over-saturated comedy circuit, his choice of material has been done to death so this isn’t a fresh take on subjects like Brexit, Donald Trump, Theresa May and the Royals. However, at times Steel looks like a man on the brink of a meltdown as he rants about how the nation rages about the bringing down the elite while at the same time fawning over the Royals.
The first half an hour of the show sees Steel simply seething about Brexit and the Government while at the same time launching into a tirade about radio phone-ins on the same subject. It’s during his Brexit tirade where you soon realise that his main problem is how, on most subjects, he can look at both sides of the coin but still end up equally as frustrated.
The second half of the show sees the comedian delving into his divorce and the problems he ancountered during mediation while insurance companies and modern technology are subjects that also find themselves straying into his line of fire. Whereas most comedians settle for an hour or so on stage, not this man as he has a lot to get off his chest. For over two and a half hours, Steel rants, stresses and rages to an audience who are with him all the way with both hoping that, at some point, as he said “every little thing is going to be alright”!
