The start of Alfie Brown: Soul for Sale is signalled by the sound of sirens and screaming, disrupting the soundtrack of Justin Bieber and Joe McEldry playing as the audience take their seats. This sums up the show’s message; down with pop music. Corrupting our children with suggestive lyrics, the constant stream of indistinguishable tunes really gets under Alfie Brown’s skin. And it’s not just modern music. Reality TV and even the world of comedy have all been corrupted by the soulless, money-making machine of the mass media.
Brown definitely sees himself as above this. With the recurring point in reaction to a critic who once advised him to ‘be funny, not clever’, Brown makes sure his audience knows that he is not just a pretty face. However, whilst his jokes are intelligent and articulately performed, the overall impression is that he thinks rather highly of himself. Getting carried away with certain issues, his jokes often carried on passed the point where the audience was still laughing.
It seems that Alfie Brown has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Whilst his arguments were perceptive and well-executed, he just seemed a bit angry and it mostly seemed directed at the aforementioned critic. I hope, for their sake, they don’t bump into Alfie Brown any time soon.
