Jonathan Pie has taken on Trump, Truss and Sunak – can he take on the West End? By Stephen Armstrong
“Please don’t clap comrades,” Jeremy Hardy said after applause greeted a joke during a benefit show in the late 90s. “You agree with the sentiment, but don’t find it funny.” At times in Pie’s 90-minute show, there is a lot of clapping. Comedian Tom Walker’s character – an infuriated liberal political correspondent whose YouTube videos play on him venting his true feelings while waiting to go live – has provided a perfect commentary on the Trump, Johnson, Truss and Sunak years. Heroes & Villains is more ambitious. Pitched as a lecture to energise young voters, it starts by fleshing out Pie’s early life, switches to his trademark splenetic rage, riffs to the delighted choir then pulls a swift and surprising about-turn. Pie ends up lambasting his audience for hypocrisy, somehow keeping them onside for his final plea… which neatly confounds all preconceptions. Elegantly done.
