Jason Manford at The Lowry Review
Jason Manford
First World Problems
The Lowry, Manchester
4 May 2014
Reviewed by Carly Upton
I was thrilled to be chosen to review Jason Manford and The First World Problems Tour at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester as I have been a big fan for a long time, I have seen him previously at the MEN Arena during another tour and was excited to see if he could live up to that performance which had me gasping for breath at his anecdotes!
As my fiancé and I are saving for our wedding (which also happens to be at The Lowry!) we were looking forward to a night out as they are few and far between at the moment. We obviously have a soft spot for the theatre anyway but its location makes it great for a relaxed night out, with a selection of restaurants and bars on the doorstep and both the tram and bus links within spitting distance.
We arrived at The Lowry early as we wanted to have a meal before the show, if you plan on eating there on a show night I would definitely advise you go early as the restaurants get very busy.
Jason Manford took to the stage at dead on 8pm as scheduled, despite earlier posts on his Facebook that he was lay in a dark dressing room backstage with a migraine! Bless him. But he certainly didn’t let this hinder his ability to turn the audience into a bunch of hyenas! He had us all in fits of laughter from the moment he stepped on the stage.
He began with his support act, which he described as himself being a shittier version of himself! As why would you waste £60 getting someone else to do it! I can honestly say there was nothing ‘shit’ about it! He began by getting to know a few of the members of the front row, who did nothing to help themselves when it came to him using them as a punchline! James 1 who was a ‘partner’ for a living! And James 2 who left halfway through a joke to use the bathroom, at which point Jason decided to wait till he returned so he didn’t miss the punchline! This all added to the fun as it offered Manford a chance for some more banter with the crowd.
The rest of the first half was largely about Salford and the surrounding area, his home town, and anecdotes about his family which had me nodding at my fiancé as we sympathised, agreed and laughed out loud. The banter with the audience was aided by the fact that we had a ‘short hand’ which he referred too, he didn’t even need to finish the gag sometimes as everyone knew what he was getting at.
As his ‘support act’ came to an end at the close of the first half he gave an explanation as to the title of the tour ‘first world problems’ this meaning, things that we moan about and get irate about that would pale into insignificance if you were talking to someone from the third world. Such as his brother saving his favourite part of the meal until the end only to be too full to eat it! He went to the interval offering us all a chance to write down our examples for which he would read a selection at the start of the ‘real show’ as he put it. This saw a large number of the audience members staying in the theatre over the interval to write down their problems, probably to the irritation of The Lowry management who almost certainly sold less drinks!
Jason returned for the second half wearing a different shirt, ‘the other one belonged to the support act’ and began by reading out some of our insignificant moans and groans! One of the funniest being 2 men complaining about a supposed dress code at the venue which Manford had made up earlier in the day and posted to Facebook because he was bored, this had caused them to wear dress trousers and shoes for no reason!
The second half continued with funny stories about his charming family and his time spent on the One Show, and that dreaded gag about the cat being put in the wheelie bin, get a sense of humour I say! The way he uses his own experiences, which the audience can relate to, make him an outstanding stand up. I can honestly say I laughed from start to finish, and one particular lady sat a couple of rows back from us was practically hyperventilating at one point, not sure if this was the effect he was going for or not!
He told us about his trip to Afghanistan last year, where he went to entertain the troops, not the Taliban as he was quick to point out! Hats off to him for going there as it must take some guts to go to a war zone to make people laugh, I’m sure the troops would have been thoroughly cheered up that night!
As he left the stage at the end to the obligatory shouts of ‘more’ he returned to the stage with a gag about how the encore is just a lie we are all in on, he says bye even though he’s coming back, we all applaud when we know it’s not the end. A shout came from the audience, ‘sing a song!’ To which he replied ‘stop telling me what to do, what do you think this is? An evening with? You can’t just shout out requests!’ But after some persuasion and further shouts (I admit I may have shouted myself!) He proceeded to sing ‘I who have nothing’ and wow what a voice! Maybe he should apply for Britain’s Got Talent!
All in all we had a fantastic night, every bank holiday Sunday should be spent that way! If you haven’t seen him before go and see him if you get the chance, a pure genius.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information about Jason Manford on tour visit www.jasonmanford.com.
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 3AZ | Box Office 0843 208 6000
