Alan Partridge Live: ‘Stratagem’ Review – OVO Hydro, Glasgow

We might as well say this now. Steve Coogan has pulled out.

Or at least he did the previous night, when Stratagem (or New Ways of Thinking in a Post-Covid World), his alter-ego Alan Partridge’s new live show, was supposed to open but was cancelled due to a bout of laryngitis.

While some might say that was bang out of order, the “Tennent's Trotsky” bounced back from his sick bed last night at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro to deliver his raucously ridiculous two-hour “life management system.”

Written by Coogan and his writing partners Neil and Rob Gibbons, Stratagem takes place on a set that Partridge wistfully tells us was inspired by a Meccano set he built of a woman’s prison as a “very right-wing little boy.”

With trademark modesty, Alan claims that the entire show was “devised, written, choreographed, performed and funded” by him - little wonder that we find out that all his ethnically, gender- balanced dance (it’s “a decent mix” Alan says proudly) troupe think “he’s a dick” when things inevitably go pear-shaped later on.

Billed as “a manifesto for the way we can move forward, a roadmap to a better tomorrow, an ABC for the way to be,” Stratagem picks up where we left Alan, having lost his prime time slot on BBC One’s ‘This Time’ after assaulting his technologically challenged sidekick Simon.

The self-proclaimed “Doctor” Partridge emerges on stage with a psychedelic medley of rap and Starship’s “We Built This City,” accompanied by his energetic dance troupe.

With characteristic diplomacy, Alan concludes that Glasgow was built on Taggart, square-sausage, and sectarianism, neatly tying in his passion for regional detective dramas and fry-up breakfasts with his casual disdain for the general public.

Dressed all in white - “Jesus Christ dressed up as Steve Jobs” – he begins setting out his vision before quickly getting derailed by his well-worn habit for theatrically over-the-top set-pieces that bear little resemblance to each other or reality.

Promotional video for Alan Partridge’s new stand up show, ‘STRATAGEM.’

Through the “magic of theatre”, we are transported in time to both his childhood and a dystopian future version of Norwich which has finally been fully pedestrianised, much to Alan’s horror.

The latter is played out by Coogan speaking to his future self on a pre-recorded screen which works better than might have been thought, demonstrating an act that has every beat down to a tee.

However, this does rob the show of an element of spontaneity, with jokes about Top Gear presenters and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats feeling curiously dated.

It’s odd that Coogan, a comedian who is very switched on to the disparate issues facing this Scissored Isle, doesn’t really deal with any contemporary issues facing the UK, though this perhaps isn’t much of a surprise given Alan is the quintessential avatar of the sexually repressed, middle-aged Little Englander desperately grasping for relevance in an ever-changing world.

Covid is mentioned only once in passing and the most up to date joke takes aim at Priti Patel as the opposite of the Elephant Man: “beautiful on the outside, ugly on the inside.”

Surprisingly, the biggest cheers of the night being were saved for on-screen cameos by Alan’s long-suffering personal assistant Lynn (Felicity Montagu) and his Irish doppelganger Martin Brennan (Coogan), who infamously ambushed Alan with Irish rebel songs live on air.

It’s disappointing that Coogan and the Gibbons brothers didn’t find a way to get Lynn on stage herself, if even just to allow fans to show their appreciation for Montagu’s long service to the Partridge canon in person.

The more dedicated Partridge fan will appreciate knowing nods to niche aspects of the Partridge universe: from Roachford playing over the PA pre-show to a memorial to Seldom, his dearly departed brown mastiff, going up on the big screens during the interval.

(Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Studiocanal)

Some eyebrows were raised when it was announced last year that Stratagem was coming to the cavernous Hydro.

Performing at such a large venue could perhaps be read as a self-consciously meta-reference to Alan’s limitlessly ambitious delusions of grandeur.

Fortunately, the effect of Scotrail’s controversial new timetable seemed minimal as the vast majority of a healthy, if not quite full, audience stayed on to the end for a chaotic medley of 80s power ballads.

While not up there with the very best of Partridge, Stratagem is a gloriously silly production that will appeal to newbies and fans alike.