Image: Steve Richards
Picture the scene: you’re a teenager in the 1970s and your friend telephones you and offers you a ticket to see David Bowie.
You already have plans to hear a small pipe-smoking man named Harold talk about politics in a hall in the Hertfordshire town of Stevenage.
For many teenagers (and any sane human being you might think) that would be no choice at all.
But the would-be political columnist Steve Richards plumps for the PM. The life-long obsession begins.
If the audience thinks they’re getting a glimpse into the mind of of a respected political commentator, they’ve got another think coming.
Not a comedian by trade, The Independent columnist has the audience in stitches. The laugh-a-minute journalist delivers jokes with impeccable timing.
He bounds onto the stage with boyish flair. He wears his love for the subject like armour. He explains his rationale behind the shows believing there is an “appetite for live politics” and frustration with being cut off when he appears on Newsnight.
His pasty tax parody has the audience reeling with laughter. He recalls the government squabbles about who was the last person to visit Greggs. Miliband, Osborne and Dave himself were all found out for telling porky pies, as was the Shadow Chancellor. Oh Balls.
The show, falsely advertised as “with guests” is a one-man show with only Richards’ impressions to keep him company on stage, but these are more than enough.
With a slightly wide grin and declaration that he’s about to be “really candid” – the spirit of Blair is summoned, a dropped jaw and gravelly Scottish burr gives us Brown and he does Boris- but then so does everyone.
The talent lies in the power of the storytelling. Conversation fit for a dinner party reveals insights into the most powerful political players in the country. The audience is taken right to the heart of the corridors or sofas of powers.
Richards concludes with a reference to adolescence. An awkward teenager, he recalls his unsuccessful efforts with girls. His dilemma was between playing it safe and skulking in the kitchen or facing a humiliating refusal. Well, look who’s laughing now.
His choice is the same for the leaders of political parties–whether they will skulk in the metaphorical kitchen of politics or have the courage to dance out into the middle of the room and take full advantage of their political space.
Steve Richards’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Politics was performed at King’s Place, York Way, on 11 March. It will return there on 13 May.
