Danny Baker
24 March 2023
Regular readers may remember I'm a big fan of the writer and broadcaster Danny Baker. When we saw him at Warwick Arts Centre in 2018 (reviewed here in May 2018) his anecdotes and reminiscences focused on the 'rock ‘n’ roll years’ – recounting his experiences of working as a journalist at the NME and getting his break as a television presenter. When we caught his latest tour (possibly his last - he seems determined to retire on his 66th birthday this June) at Milton Keynes Theatre last Saturday, he promised to bring his story up to date. But he still spent the entire first half of the evening (an hour and three quarters before the interval) recapping his childhood and early career for anyone who had missed his previous shows. After the break he covered the happenstance of his discovery of radio broadcasting as his true home, and his extensive career as a writer, for Angus Deayton, Jonathan Ross, Chris Evans, Rob Brydon, Peter Kay and many others. Danny Baker is a compelling storyteller and this performance was an amazing tour-de-force. Eager to squeeze in as many stories as possible, his rapid nonstop delivery, with barely a pause for breath and no sip of water to ease the throat, while constantly pacing the stage, lasted more than three and a half hours. And even then you felt he was disappointed he hadn't managed to get through everything he had wanted to say. But it never felt like the marathon ordeal this makes it sound. I felt completely drawn into every story to the point I sometimes forgot I was in a theatre watching a bald middle aged man wearing a fez and clutching a snooker cue (to point to the pictures projected on a screen above the stage). Danny Baker's reflections on his life are jaw-droppingly incredible, laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly humble - and brilliantly performed. If he does retire this summer I'm so glad I got to see him one last time.
posted by Robin Simpson @ 3:46 pm
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