Onstage Scotland - August 2007
Johnson and Boswell - Late But Live

Some of the most memorable sketches featured on Fist of Fun – the cult BBC 2 series created by Stewart Lee and Richard Herring – involved the pair applying their double act dynamic to historical and biblical tales.

Almost a decade later, Lee’s Johnson and Boswell – Late but Live feels like a natural progression. It goes without saying that back in the day, Herring would have taken the role of James Boswell while Lee would have assumed the superior air of Samuel Johnson. Here, Miles Jupp and Simon Munnery respectively take on the roles, and the casting proves inspired.
Lee would perhaps blush at the comparison his show invites – after all, Johnson was ‘the greatest wit of the age’ while he is merely the 41st best stand-up ever. However, when Johnson pours scorn on his host country as an Edinburgh native might pour brown sauce on a deep-fried pizza supper, the two personas merge into a formidable comic creation.
When Johnson reacts with weary contempt to Boswell's gleeful repetition of his best-known witticism, it’s easy to see where Lee - haunted as he is by cries of 'moon on a stick' - got his inspiration.

Scotland-bashing makes up a significant proportion of this frequently hilarious hour-long show, which features live drumming, bagpiping and the surprising appearance of a mouth organ. Fortunately, unlike Christian fundamentalists (who took ill-informed umbrage with Jerry Springer – The Opera), the Scots can take a ribbing. Only the roar of approval for mention of a certain airport baggage-handler exceeds the guffaws of laughter.
The ‘theatrical’ part of the show is perhaps the weakest section, but thanks to its sheer silliness, the use of interminable repetition and a perfectly deflating punchline, it is ultimately a success. The show concludes with a man eating an entire haggis live on stage. What more could discerning Traverse audiences possibly want?

Shona Craven

Reviewed at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2007.