'The Palace of Earthly Delights'

It’s time to release my new comedy album, ‘The Palace of Earthly Delights’. I’ve trailed it over the last few newsletters, but here it is, with music by AVZounds and additional voiceover from Rebecca Shorrock. The show is 44 minutes of satirical comedy in the form of a bizarre shaggy dog narrative.

I’m inclined to say as little more about the show as possible; I did do some press about it at the time. What’s here is a soundtracked version of the show I toured from August 2019 to September 2022, taking in five Fringe festivals along the way. This show was my attempt to fill a ‘gap in the market’ for the kind of satire I thought the UK was missing, someone who was genuinely taking the mick out all sides without a dog in the fight. Predictably, audiences proved limited.

Life moves on fast, and I’m not really doing stand-up anymore. That particular itch feels scratched. But it’s nice to have a memorial of my years doing it in the UK. I am a conservative and cautious man in my private life, and have always put my radicalism into my work. For me, this piece marks when I was out on my furthest limb and, as long as you have some knowledge of the UK political scene circa 2015, I reckon you can get something from it.

Besides, it’s time to release it before the people involve start dying off. Some of the characters (George Galloway anyone?) are already looking pretty obscure.

Below is the show trailer, then the whole thing is below the paywall.

My thanks to all the people who helped me make this show, the friends who supported, the audiences who came, and my former spouse Ke Zuo. A particular thanks is due to my dear friend Christopher Hogg who put the facilities at my disposal to record the narration.