Many people will of course know Christian O’Connell from presenting the Absolute Radio Breakfast Show of which he has been doing now for over 10 years and in his time on the station, has won more Sony Radio Academy Awards (a whopping 14) than any other UK radio presenter. Stand-up comedy has also always been a passion of his and after 20 years, he returned to the festival last year with his sold out show, “This is 13”. For 2015, he is back with a brand new show exploring the strange world of radio complaints. Throughout the show, he gives us a taster of his time being one of the UK’s most popular DJ’s and a comical look into what happens when the mics are closed and how since the rise of social media, people are offended by nearly everything. He also looks into the changing perceptions of radio personalities in the wake of Jimmy Saville and Operation Yewtree and also explores the rise of this politically correct ridden nation we have become.
Spend a very enjoyable afternoon looking into the life of one of the UK’s most talented and respected on-air personalities.
In this hour long performance, he looks into the lengths in which people will actually go to, just to complain. He talks about a situation where a listener was so hurt about a comment he made about cats, she set up a new twitter profile just to complain to him. I love the idea of Christian actually writing all these complaints down in this notebook. Also another situation about how much time a listener had on their hands by contacting him day in and day out, just to chase up a competition prize of the smallest value.
Being a radio DJ, he has an excellent ability to put information across in a very concise, straightforward way. His set is very interesting and explores a lot of issues but never feels intense and even when talking about things like Jimmy Saville and the new perception on radio DJ’s, he is always very comical and I feel he has the ability to talk about controversial issues but be quite “cheeky chappy” about it and I think this reflects on him being a very likeable person and he makes you feel very comfortable when he is performing his routine.
The audience always seemed to be on Christian’s side and his personality is key in his comedy. I would say, without a doubt, this is what makes him such a worthwhile radio presenter and comedian. I do hope he returns next year with his unique outlook on life and in regards to this year’s offering, you spend a very enjoyable afternoon looking into the life of one of the UK’s most talented and respected on-air personalities.
