Bobby Carroll has perhaps been doing stand up so long that he’s become a bit bitter. On the other hand, Carroll would probably admit he was always bitter; he is a self-confessed misanthrope.
Carroll’s material seems natural and his musings are entertaining. Yet, every now and then he slots in jokes that fall below par. Then, instead of rolling with the punches and swiftly moving on, he pulled out what I can only describe as a defence mechanism, a defence mechanism that is detrimental to the entertainment of his set. He assured us that we were not going to enjoy the rest of his material and that maybe we should leave. Later he let us sit in silence while he took an awkward swig from his pint. This was funny only once after he admitted he likes to do it just to make us think about what we have done; the other times he did it, it looked genuinely awkward.
The audience did enjoy a large part of his set but these constant mutterings made them very conscious of themselves and the show. It disrupted the flow of his stand up as he openly racked his brain for the next section and commented on how we might react to it. His bitterness and misanthropic side, rather than adding value and material, undermined his show. A shame, as he is capable of chatting his way through some quite amusing stories and observations. In fact I had the feeling he is, secretly, a very nice guy, as much as he pretends otherwise.
