Alan Partridge Live: Stratagem

Firstly, Mr Coogan, should your read this, I am sorry for this review

I saw this pop up on prime and I was very excited as I had no idea there was a live show of one of my all time favourite comedy characters of all time, I have seen all the series, and some of the podcasts, the film, and love them.

The first 20 minutes of this really made me laugh, then turned into a weird segment (no spoilers but about 20 minutes in) which was just so odd and left me scratching my head, it wasn't funny, and it wasn't Alan Partridge. I stress again, I am a real fan of the character and the series

I struggled on, and an hour in with 20 minutes to go, I really wished I had stopped after 20 minutes, I am currently writing this review while watching the last 20 minutes but its just not funny, it goes from odd segment to odd segment, I feel quite sad honestly, I really thought this was going to be great, I know this review is a little vague because maybe its just me? And I don't want to leave spoilers

In short, I think the character only works with script writers, this feels like Mr Coogan has tried to carry on the character with no help from good script writers, maybe he did have them, maybe I am being unjustly unfair in presuming that Steve Coogan wrote all this alone, but if he did, he shouldn't.

3/10. First 20 minutes or me 8/10 and then awful afterwards.

The gigantic Stratagem arena tour rolled around the arenas of the UK in the summer of 2022 and this filmed show in London is the only chance of someone without a billion pounds to spend on a ticket to see it. Stratagem is a fairly loose concept - Partridge doing a sort of motivational speaking/life coaching schtick after breaking up with a girlfriend - which feels like a sort of flabbier rendition of the Partridge segment from Coogan's "Less Successful Characters" tour. It does go on for ages, and Emma Sidi is great, but it rarely feels vital and occasionally he drifts out of character. Not at all anywhere near essential Partridge, and he's far sharper in the Gibbons era as a podcast host/author.

It's not peak Partridge. It feels slightly slapdash and not as slick or as well prepared as I would expect. The points where Steve Coogan is reading the dialogue could have been passed off as 'character' but it's clear it isn't. The whole show feels less than thought through with no structure and no real comedy. Just a shameless cash I. Even on the recording a vast proportion of the audience look bored to tears and the ensemble work hard with minimal material.

It's a shame as Alan Partridge is one of the great comic creations but this just felt tired, repetitive and low energy from the get go.

Steve Coogan is one of my all-time favourite comedians but seriously this is awful... I kept watching hoping it'd improve but sadly an hour and a half of my life I won't get back.

So glad I didn't go see it live As I'd have probably ended up walking out.

It just drones on without the usual creativity and ironic humour associated with Partridge. Jokes were tired and the songs were pointless and seemingly just to fill in tine rather than add anything. The audience seemed just to be perplexed and a little embarrassed with some rather forced laughter usually at him swearing. Could have been brilliant but just tired and unoriginal.

There's no question that Alan Partridge is one of the greatest comedy creations in British TV history. The subtlety and sharpness of Mid Morning Matters or The Oasthouse podcast is about as good as comedic writing gets.

Stratagem, however, is complete trash. This format simply doesn't work well for this character and I think Coogan knows this. Every joke seems forced and the overall performance is far more slapstick than parody.

The reaction of the crowd tells you everything. They are quiet and look visibly bored. In fact, many people look quite agitated as if their intelligence is being insulted by this shoddy effort.

Really terrible stuff from Coogan. Not my words, the words of Shakin' Stevens.