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The Scotsman
21 August 2003
Rating (out of 5): 
THIS show is hardcore. Serious, point-making, politicised, thought-provoking stand-up. Except that Laurence Clark does it sitting down. The show attacks (and I mean attacks) the multi-million pound disabled charity industry. Not very much stand-up these days has the power to shock, to force a sharp intake of breath and to change minds. This does.
It is genuinely satirical in places. The show is peppered with tiny video appeals for "Stars in Need". A collecting tin goes round the audience as we watch a heart-rending plea to contribute money for Ben Elton who, tragically, "in the early 1990s, lost the use of his principles". "Just 80p would be enough to buy Ben a copy of the Socialist Worker," says guest comic Mat Fraser's pointedly caring voiceover. This is heavy-hitting, clever stuff. Esther, Wogan, Gaby and the Beckhams are all in the firing line. Jimmy Savile? "We hate the f*****," grins Clark. Most dangerously, Clark has a serious, and seriously amusing, go at Christopher Reeve.
The show is not only viciously funny, it is full of fascinating information worked into the gags. Some 22 per cent of people in the UK feel discomfort and embarrassment when with someone disabled, a survey says. Well 82 per cent of disabled people feel discomfort and nausea when they are with Wogan, announces Clark. "And we're none too keen on the f****** bear!" Not since Robert Newman have I seen a comic who made me think so much and realise I knew so little. Go. Think. Laugh.
