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.

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.

I love for comedy specials and try to watch as many as possible. There are plenty or European or international comics who I have watched and loved.

This one was truly awful. I don't think I laughed once. Stunning how bad it is for it to be on Max, which has put out brilliant specials this year like Hannah Einbinder, Alex Edelman and Seth Meyers to name a few. I read a review that compared him to the brilliant Bo Burnham, and I don't see the comparison on any level. Even the crowd at the taping looked like they didn't understand what was going on.

Maybe this is primarily for a European audience that is more familiar with his previous work, but I feel like I went into it with a pretty open mind and I still don't understand the appeal on any level.

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.