Do Critics Have Any Influence Over Performers?

Maybe, but it's not as simple as that....

I was quietly smug when I received a press release announcing that Mackenzie Crook was set to direct the second series of the Bridget Christie Channel 4 comedy The Change. When the first series aired last year and told the story of a woman (Christie) leaving her husband and going back to basics in the countryside I reviewed it and noted that it had a similar gentle, bucolic vibe to BBC hit Detectorists, which of course was created by and starred Mackenzie Crook....

So bringing these two creative individuals together (pictured below) felt like a dream team of my making. Maybe they had simultaneously but separately read my review and immediately got on the telephone to each other saying that ‘Bruce Dessau says we are kindred spirits, we must work together without further ado.’ Maybe I was the ultimate comedy matchmaker.

Or maybe not. Perhaps the partnership was a pretty obvious thing long before I commented on it. Christie said as much when the tie-up was announced: “Detectorists was my favourite British TV show of the past decade and was a huge influence on The Change, so to have Mackenzie directing the second series feels like a mad dream. I can’t think of anyone better suited to direct.”

And Crook echoed those get-a-room sentiments: “The Change was my favourite TV show of 2023 and so to find myself directing Series 2 feels like winning a competition.

To be perfectly frank and as painful as it may be to admit this, I'm not sure if journalists have that much influence over creative types. I know there used to be an idea that a bad review could close a stage production but with the diminishing power of the press that seems increasingly unlikely these days, although recently the Sheridan Smith play Opening Night did have a closing night earlier than planned.

That was a due to what was called a “challenging financial landscape.” When do writers ever have a hand in the artistic direction of a production? I'd say that is pretty rare. Particularly for comedians who like to have a very much authored show (albeit with the aid of a director, but that’s another story and I'll save that for another article).

I can only think of a couple of instances over the last two decades where I made a difference. Long before he was an award-winning broadcaster and podcaster John Robins did a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe which I saw at the start of its run. I thought it was great right up until the final ten minutes. There seemed to be something missing as he attempted to weave together various themes. It needed a bit of bite or a killer pay off to send the fans out on the street truly raving about it.

I said as much in my review and later during the run I bumped into Robins. He graciously acknowledged what I'd written and pointed out that he had now tweaked the ending. He didn't, however, go as far as to say he'd changed it because of me, more than I'd echoed his own misgivings at the start of the run about the sense of an ending.

So maybe I didn't have too much of a hand in 'changing' the show. But a stand up did at least agree with my review. With other other comedians there is little chance of them acting on a critics comments because they may not see those comments. Frank Skinner, for example, has said that he doesn’t read reviews. The trouble is if you believe the good ones you've also got to believe the bad ones, so some performers prefer to avoid write-ups completely.

As much as we would like to think that we are part of a conversation maybe for comedy critics it's can tend to be very much a one-way conversation. I doubt if Jimmy Carr, to pluck someone at random, has decided to dial down the outrage because the Guardian described him as a “moral vacuum” when reviewing his last Netflix special. However, I was just about to sign off this column when I remembered an incident where I have very much had an input into a show.

Last year I interviewed Romesh Ranganathan about his latest tour, Hustle. We had a very relaxed, enjoyable chat and at the end as we were winding down he asked me where I got my brown beaded bracelet from. "TK Maxx, £15," I said. A few weeks later I was looking at some pictures of Ranganathan online and I noticed something familiar. There clearly on his left wrist was a brown beaded bracelet…

So maybe critics do have more influence on performers than they think. Though perhaps not in the way they would expect.

THREE TO SEE

Ed Gamble - Off Menu star is on tour with his own solo, Hot Diggity Dog, which includes a long run at the Hackney Empire. Details here.

Ed Byrne – Another Ed - Mr Byrne returns by popular demand with his moving and very funny show about his late brother Paul, Tragedy Plus Time. At Soho Theatre, details here.

Rosie Holt – Get into that General Election mood with viral star Rosie Holt’s satirical laughfest, That’s Politainment at Soho Theatre on July 3 & 4. Details here.