James Acaster: Hecklers Welcome

Really disappointed. We love James Acaster and have really enjoyed his earlier stuff. This was unfortunately unwatchable though and we really tried to persevere but had to turn off 15 minutes in.

Incredibly low effort jokes (if you could call them that) and poorly delivered. It felt lazily done and like the passion had gone.

Really surprised at how low quality this was compared to his previous work. It was awkward to watch the live audience force a chuckle. Hopefully he finds his spark again in future work but for now would recommend any Acaster fans avoid this train wreck of a performance. Really, really bad! :(

Easily the worst stand up I've ever seen.

Had to turn it off.

How can someone who's very funny on a panel show be so bad at delivering a stand up show.

Absolute disaster, and ever funnier that he is berating other comedians when this is all he has to deliver, and also gives a nod to Nish Kumar as someone who go he thinks is funny is just comical for all the wrong reasons.

I would spend me time doing anything to else than watching this.

Despite being hilarious on panel shows, seems Acaster is just the comedy version of the chubby bloke from the Kaiser Chiefs. Some middle of the road nonsense man.

I love James Acaster I think he is brilliant. His recalls to his past special on netflix (Repetoir) was brilliant and hit. I thought his jokes were funny and so bizarre which perfectly encapsulates James. The problem I had is that I felt I had to have been there. Whenever crowd work happened it felt like it was a joke I wasn't in on - the perfect analogy is when your friends are laughing about something and tell you that you had to have been there, so you kind of laugh along and kind of get it. Though I say this his crowd work is tremendous and he seems a lot happier and enjoying comedy more than he has. I think he's honest and understands that what he says can influence people - this shows as he uses his voice for good. Personally if you are a fan of James you'll love this.

This has to be the first time I've ever reviewed someone I genuinely like this badly, I even watched it twice to make sure it wasn't just a bad mood, 3 ish hours over two sittings, maybe smiled twice, it felt disjointed with the weird mini drum break ups even though after a split scene, it returned on same subject!

It felt like a long warm up chat that never went anywhere, the mic at start was broken which wasn't even funny, he missed every joke and the crowd were dead or polite at best, the material was horrific, he is normally side splitting type funny, if this is him matured, I'd rethink as it's awful James.

Seeing him in films was a blast and he's come far but as someone who has seen his stuff decade or so ago this is one of the worst shows ever, let's be real he says he hates doing stand up... the proof is here.

Seeing a comedian make reference to 'hate speech' is a very strange concept to me. James does this in his opening credit. I wonder whose definition he uses and whether he will cancel himself in future when the culture inevitably shifts?

Anyway,

This show was safe, broad and luke warm. Made for corporate television and people who enjoy 'wacky' gags without needing to think too much. An absolute guarantee he gets booked on the same luke-warm BBC panel shows for years to come.

Take a look at his target demographic and those in the audience and it all starts to make sense.

Uninteresting, beige and overdone premises and concepts. It's no wonder you rarely see James in the mix with the best of the best, who aren't worried at all about hurt feelings and go for funny first.