Joe Wells returns with his unique brand of acerbic political humour about how we all grow increasingly right wing as we age. Flexing the old English degree, Wells parodies James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by starting out as a young comedian with jokes from the left and ending as a parody of an embittered and aging conservative complaining about young people. While the brief forays into non-political topics lack the finesse of his political material, Wells still knows how to entertain.
If you are the kind of person who strolls down the street gently humming ‘oh Jeremy Corbyn’ then this is the show for you.
Despite the rather bleak sounding title, Wells never takes his comedy to dark depths and saves his punches for the Conservative Party, Donald Trump and, in a cruel twist, cats. Cat people beware, this show is not for you. His punchlines are sharp, and he does cycle through quite a few topics, taking swings at political correctness, the left and the right. However, the best material is when he focuses his ire on the state of politics in the UK and the British right-wing. Wells has multiple shows of political comedy under his belt and the weight of his experience shows. The material is well crafted and witty without ever becoming nasty. It is of course not the show you would want to go to if you leaned to the right but if you are interested in attending then you probably are not a Conservative.
Wells has mentioned that he is becoming tired of political humour and wishes to move on from the genre, but it would be a shame. His material about Kanye West and his hatred of cats doesn’t always land on its feet, but Wells is already ready to move onto new jokes and is a deft touch at improvising his way out of the strange situations that can arise in smaller venues with technical difficulties and the like.
I Hope I Die Before I Vote Conservative is a cheery and bright comedy romp with an interesting idea powering it. You can sense Wells is becoming frustrated with the modern left as well and the 'aging Tory' angle gives him a chance to throw some jokes at the left as well. However, if you are the kind of person who strolls down the street gently humming ‘oh Jeremy Corbyn’ then this is the show for you.
