User Reviews

This An Audience With programme was one that I was most keen to see after seeing clips from it in the past. Apart from his short stint in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! And his Mick Jagger on the Royal Variety Performance in 1970, I had hardly seen much of the popular comedian. Freddie Starr is one of the most popular comedians, along with being an impressionist and singer. Starr made the front page of tabloid newspaper The Sun in 1986 with the headline "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster!", and the opening credits reference this. The memorable moments in this show are: "Heartbreak Radio", "Honey" (his own song) and playing guitar badly, Windsor Davies (It Ain't Half Hot Mum), Nigel Havers and John McCririck joining him on stage acting in a western and singing, a magic trick with paper and hoops, his impression of a mad dog, juggling with barbed wire with it getting stuck to his clothing, fire eating blindfolded, talking about how he relaxes fishing with maggots and he throws a handful of them into the audience, shooting a gun at Dale Winton to catch a bullet with his teeth, singing "Unchained Melody" to Robson Green with Mr. Motivator on the generator bike to stop the lights flickering, Peter Stringfellow in gallows having his hair cut, surviving the blades trick and still wearing it when he goes back to his seat, Patsy Palmer and Vanessa Feltz copying his movements, including thrusting, while singing "Fever", Starr doing a superb Elvis Presley impression singing "Don't", "The Girl of My Best Friend" and "Can't Help Falling in Love", with The Jordanaires (the real backing vocalists for Elvis), Gary Bushell from The Sun being strapped up with balloons to have knives thrown at him blindfolded, and finally "Too Much Monkey Business" with The Jordanaires. Starr does answer some questions from the celebrities in the audience, including whether the hamster story was true. The celebrities that can be spotted in the audience included: Caroline Aherne, Cheryl Baker, Floella Benjamin, Bob Carolgees, Frank Carson, Lorraine Chase, Keith Chegwin, Max Clifford, Liz Dawn, Sheila Ferguson, Russell Grant, Melvyn Hayes, Gareth Hunt, Burt Kwouk, Bonnie Langford, Vicki Michelle, Ken Morley, Billy Murray (Johnny Allen from EastEnders), Nicholas Parsons, Claire Rayner, Paul Ross, Carol Smillie, and Janet Street-Porter. Freddie Starr was number 81 on 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, and he was number 100 on 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2010, and An Audience With was number 26 on ITV's 50 Greatest Shows. Very good!