Review: Jason Manford @ King George’s Hall, Blackburn (From This Is Lancashire)

Review: Jason Manford @ King George’s Hall, Blackburn

5:39pm Tuesday 24th November 2009 in Reviews By Caroline Taylor

WHEN last year’s comedy festival winner took to the stage at King George’s Hall there was an air of expectation in the audience — and Jason Manford didn’t let us down.

Two-and-a-half hours in and he was still going strong.

Likening himself to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet Manford admitted: “You might not like all of it, but you’ll definitely feel like you’ve got your money’s worth.”

He did himself a disservice – there were no crispy seaweed in this set.

If I was being picky I’d say Manford seemed a bit uncomfortable during the first half of the show. Perhaps he was slightly bored of the material he’s been touring since September.

But in the second half he stepped up a gear, and an impromptu question-and-answer session after the encore left people with tears in their eyes.

I loved his stuff about being a new dad, his narcoleptic father, and passing his driving test.

A hugely likeable comedian.