Michael McIntyre, Arena Birmingham - review

The London comic’s show at the city centre venue was one of four consecutive gigs - yet he most certainly didn’t fail to attract big crowds to his Friday night event.

His show, which lasted for around 75 minutes, was filled with jokes relating to everyday life; many of which Michael geared towards Birmingham, much to fans’ delight - though his Brummie accent could use some work.

Focussing on the second city, the stand-up star provoked laughter around subjects including the Aston Expressway, which he described as ‘a bit tense’.

He also discussed how Birmingham has more canals than Venice - and joked that, given his wife had always wanted to visit the Italian city, he could perhaps take her to Brum on a romantic break.

Throughout the remainder of his set, Michael went on to tickle the crowds with humorous tales based on everyday experiences, from the recent heatwave, to online shopping, the dreaded period between Christmas and spring, tackling hot baths, and society’s dependence on mobile phones.

The comedian’s battles with his two sons also featured, in addition to stories about his experiences of touring the world.

My personal favourite was his sequence of jokes about road etiquette and UK drivers’ bizarre habits, pet hates and tendencies.

Though some of his stories went on a little too long, he was very amusing overall, and a woman just a few seats from me laughed so hard for the majority of the show that she spent much of the gig in tears.

An overall very enjoyable show, with Michael proving himself to have a great knack for turning otherwise mundane situations in life into hilarious content, close to everyone’s hearts from all walks of life.