DVD Review: Jack Whitehall Live

With an incredibly impressive array of television credits accrued over the past three or four years, not least starring roles in Channel 4 comedy drama Fresh Meat and his own ratings-winning BBC sitcom, Bad Education, one could certainly be forgiven for being surprised that this is in fact Jack Whitehall's first live stand-up DVD.

His particular vein of comedy, as illustrated during countless panel show appearances, is based almost wholly around that most British of values: class. Whitehall makes no secret of his relatively privileged, upper-middle class upbringing, and indeed revels in the curiously effeminate persona he has crafted for himself; this is the comedy of a "posh boy" who's in touch with a more normal way of life enough to recognise exactly how he comes across to an audience.

The material in Jack Whitehall Live is varied. Whilst all revolves around that core persona, and to a slightly lesser extent Whitehall's youth, he tackles a variety of topics, not least the traditional comedy trinity of food, sex, and relationships. There are also some great routines about his youth and family life, a predilection for the Geordie accent, and - curiously - a dwarf in a toilet.

We were pleasantly surprised, too, that we recognised very little of the material from previous television appearances, a trap that many a comic falls prey to in these days of omnipresent panel and chat shows packing the television schedules. Indeed, even the few passages that we were familiar with were still rendered entertaining by Whitehall's energetic, flamboyant delivery.

Of course, Whitehall's humour and the effeminate posh-boy act aren't to everyone's tastes, and those who have taken a dislike to him are unlikely to be won over by this show. Fans, however, are almost guaranteed to be delighted by a thoroughly entertaining 92 minute set by the 24 year-old comic.

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