The Secret Reviewer #52: Network Failure

Every month our clandestine critic reveals the murky truths behind that infamous trade, and live comedy generally. This month: Schmoozing is overrated.

I was at the press launch for a big new London stage thing recently, one of those high-profile affairs where 'press' includes lots of random celebrities too, and there's a very real danger that you'll be sat next to, say, Mark Gatiss, and spend the entire show intensely aware of yourself, and him, and come away regretting that you never figured out a nice way to break the ice, like cooler people would presumably do.

Gatiss ended up...