Steve Hughes: Are You Serious? review

I would never normally be so unprofessional to review a gig if I left before the end. But as Steve Hughes pulled up his stool to tell us he's not a conspiracy theorist, 'it's called knowledge, people', I found I had someplace else to be. And since the clock had edged past midnight by this point, decreasing public transport options of how to get there. Already the Australian outsider had spent quite a hefty portion of last night's gig on an anti-woke, men's rights agenda mixed with new-agey babble. Part 'do your own research, sheeple', part 'I believe in astrology'.

Wielding a far bigger stick than he ever did in his days as a heavy-metal drummer, Steve Hughes sets off on the scent of social and political scheming on his latest tour, While It's Still Legal.

And if the piercing Aussie was feeling paranoid before, how about now, in the wake of the Prism affair and the attendant subterfuge?

Even when he slips into observational mode, he delivers his punchlines with a conspiratorial glare, as if what he's just said about farts, or sex, has some darker meaning - if only you'd care to look for it, you witless lunk.

This week's comedy

A preview of Robin And Josie's Shambles, Matt Okine and Steve Hughes.

Review: Steve Hughes: Big Issues - Newcastle Stand

But for me, social commentary is best served in short spurts, and once Hughes passes the hour mark the laughs seem to become more sporadic. At the close of the show he admits, "I never know how to end these things", but Hughes had already missed at least three decent opportunities to close the show.

Interview: Steve Hughes

Steve Hughes is sick of towing the line. "I'm apparently not allowed to have opinions anymore because it's not politically correct and everyone is equal," groans the Australian comic, now famous for his political satire. "But not everyone is fucking equal and not everyone is the same."

Steve Hughes sorry for 'tasteless comment' about PCs

Steve Hughes has apologised after he made a 'tasteless comment' during a gig the day after two police officers were killed in a gun and grenade attack.

Host Sarah Millican, the mistress of girly self-deprecation, can't stand celebrity fitness DVDs. No, her ideal would be "Fat Lass Has a Go", followed up by "Fat Lass Tries Again".

Millican has fallen into that comfortable female-comedian nest where she pokes fun at her own perceived shortcomings before anyone else can, making the audience complicit in her cheery humiliation. But you let her get away with it. Possibly that's something to do with that deceptively soothing Geordie lilt, a terrific giggle and her charm.

She's funny, too; there are routines about a louche friend with an adventurous life ("To me, exciting is when you start a new tea towel"), her becoming an unlikely lust object on Twitter, and a boyfriend who can't buy decent presents. Elsewhere, Steve Hughes does little more than get the audience cheering along to the naffness of The X Factor, while Russell Kane lets us in on the poisonous reality of being a single man again.

Michael McIntyre continues his stand-up roadshow with a stop at the Birmingham Hippodrome. There's the usual fast-paced introduction from McIntyre, followed by sets from a wry Canadian called Tom Stade, a wild-haired Australian called Steve Hughes and an energetic Yorkshireman called Paul Tonkinson. The evening ends with a set by Shappi Khorsandi, a female Iranian stand-up who, she confesses, would rather have been a horse.

The quality of the comedians appearing on this show is astounding. Obviously one or two were bound to be good, but to come up with a royal flush week after week seems to defy the laws of probability. After McIntyre's usual full-throttle intro, Tom Stade - an American living in Wolverhampton - tells a single story about a man selling meat from the back of a van. Paul Tonkinson points out some of the difficulties involved in making yourself a quick sandwich when you're in a relationship. Steve Hughes, a hairy man from Australia, launches an attack on health and safety and political correctness, and this glorious evening ends with the headline act from Shappi Khorsandi, who is that rare thing - a female stand-up comic from Iran.