Lee Evans - XL Tour - Live (DVD)

I'm a huge fan of Lee Evans. I went to see him twice on his last stand up comedy tour in 2002 and had been eagerly awaiting his return ever since. So when tickets for his shows in December 2005 went on sale in the summer of 2004, we booked up straight away, regardless of the 18 month wait between the purchase and the show. That's the longest I've ever had to wait for a show to come around and it's worrying that I was still in my 20s went I bought ...
...at the Wembley show where Lee Evans filmed the DVD for commercial release. We were hopeful when we booked that this might happen again. Mindful of the Christmas market, however, Evans decided to record the show earlier in the tour and the DVD was actually released before I ever got to see the show. Needless to say, I avoided it like the plague until after I'd been. But with the tour over, the DVD is all I have left and so it acts as a great reminder ... more

I'm a huge fan of Lee Evans. I went to see him twice on his last stand up comedy tour in 2002 and had been eagerly awaiting his return ever since. So when tickets for his shows in December 2005 went on sale in the summer of 2004, we booked up straight away, regardless of the 18 month wait between the purchase and the show. That's the longest I've ever had to wait for a show to come around and it's worrying that I was still in my 20s went I bought the ticket, but in my 30s when I finally got to the show.

On 2002s "Wild and Wonderful" tour, we were at the Wembley show where Lee Evans filmed the DVD for commercial release. We were hopeful when we booked that this might happen again. Mindful of the Christmas market, however, Evans decided to record the show earlier in the tour and the DVD was actually released before I ever got to see the show. Needless to say, I avoided it like the plague until after I'd been. But with the tour over, the DVD is all I have left and so it acts as a great reminder of what was a decent night out.

Unlike some of his shows, particularly the "Live in Scotland" DVD, there is no long lead in or introduction to the show. This is a bit of a shame, as there was a very funny intro at the shows, almost a spoof of Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)". But on the DVD, it's straight into the show. This segment does appear over the end credits, but it was such a good lead in to the show, it would have been better in its original place.

But once you get started, this is largely irrelevant. Right from the off, Evans is on top form. Coming out, as ever, to rapturous applause and seeming humbled to be in front of so many fans and slightly nervous to start. The show is, as is usual for Evans, very quick fire and very physical. The jokes come at you one after the other, skipping quite happily from topic to topic, occasionally circling round and coming back to where they started, sometimes not, but always hilarious.

Evans is very much an every man comic. His jokes revolve around topics that pretty much everyone will have some awareness of. From eating in restaurants, to your parents dancing at weddings, to the amount of porn on the internet, he covers almost every situation you can think of. He spans the ages as well, from rotary dial telephones to modern communication devices to 24 hour drinking. No matter what the age or the interests of the viewer, there is going to be something in this show that you'll have some awareness of and, no doubt, find amusing. Personally, as a sports fan, I've always liked his routines involving sports and his part about the bad behaviour of modern footballers was pretty up to date as well as appealing to me. About the only jokes that might not be understood by everyone are the ones specific to the Cardiff show, about the city itself, but at Wembley he did much the same, so I've had my turn at that.

Even his nervous laughter is a part of the show these days, with the crowd laughing For Evans as well; no subject is taboo, with his act taking the mickey out of himself, the family dog and the family itself. Only his daughter seems to get off lightly.

To view, it's a fairly standard comedy DVD. It's mostly just Lee Evans on stage, with shots from different angles, which aren't always the best ones for the moment, given how active and mobile Evans is on stage. On the rare occasion where Lee pauses between jokes for the crowd to laugh or applaud you get a shot of audience members laughing along with him.

This is a very long show for a comedy show, too, making it great value for not only the ticket price but for the price of the DVD. The show is a little over 2 hours and 20 minutes, which far surpasses most stand up shows and certainly beats anything Evans himself has done.

On the down side, there is a fair amount of swearing in Lee Evans' act. He has always been this way, but if you don't like that sort of language, you'd be better off avoiding this one. The songs that he uses to close the act aren't really up to his normal standard and aren't really all that funny and the closing bit after he's left the stage is clearly an add on for DVD purposes and really isn't worth the time, especially as it seems to replace the famous "Bohemian Rhapsody" routine he ended his Wembley shows with. Also, if you're more of a fan of less physical comedians and prefer the drier wit that some comedians have, you may not enjoy Lee Evans at all, so this DVD wouldn't be for you.

For the fan, the quality of the show is not matched by the quality of the extras, of which there are only a couple. There is a Gallery which consists solely of stills from the show, mostly with Evans in mid joke, so they do catch him in mid pose, often pulling a funny face. But there is no sound and it's just 5 minutes of pictures flicking over every few seconds.

The "XS Bits" on the DVD should be more accurately named the "XS Bit", as there's only one thing there. This is a bit of a behind the scenes look, showing Evans warming up and doing the sound check plus a few shots of what happens backstage. There are a few interesting facts cut in over these to illustrate that this is the biggest comedy tour in UK history (hence the "XL" title) which are quite fun and amusing in parts. But given that the whole segment is Lee warming up the two slightly lacklustre songs he ended the show with, this does seem to go on for quite some time for the limited entertainment you're going to get from it. It's only ten minutes long, but it does feel like longer. This is in complete contrast to the show itself, which lasts for ages, but seems to fly by.

The music over the DVD menu is a little twee and annoying as well. I put the DVD on and left it warming up to go outside for a cigarette. By the time I got back, about five minutes later, my flatmate, who was also working upstairs, had killed the sound because it was annoying him.

All things considered, though, this is a superb DVD, if only for the show. Fans of Lee Evans will adore this show, as he's on top form. Fans of the more physical stand up comedy who may not have followed Lee Evans in the past would find this is pretty good entertainment and there will be something that can amuse people with most interests and topics covered in these two hours or so.

And if you're a fan, of quite fancy becoming one, the DVD is available pretty cheaply. I have seen it in the HMV sale for £9.99 and on eBay from as little as 99p. For those who already know they'll enjoy it, it can be had from Amazon for £13.99 or the Amazon Marketplace from £8.99.

I realise Lee Evans brand of comedy isn't to everyone's taste and fans of stand up comedy do seem to have a love/hate relationship with him a lot of the time. I'm definitely in the former group and, with Evans having sold more than 250,000 tickets for the tour, I'm clearly not alone. Come join me. 

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