"Does stand-up get any better than this?
"Try as I might, I can't find a single thing I hate about Mr Bird. Except that he makes cool criticism so damn difficult.
"'Cause it's impossible to dislike 'im. He has that natural approach that should take aeons to perfect. He sports the elegant ease of Eddie Izzard alongside the grandiose gag-count of mature Monkhouse, with the righteous ranting of immature Alexei Sayle to boot.
"It seems off-the-cuff but that's all part of his wile. He sails carelessly through the entire gamut of existence - the royals, paintballing, digital cameras, reality telly, the great (ahem) British legal system - and of course sex. But don't worry, this isn't the please-be-shocked sadness of latter-day Ben Elton, nor is it the smug smut of everyday Carry On movies. It's just another leaf outa the book of a fellow who realises anything - everything - is fair game to the skilled comic.
"He's been accused of laddishness (didn't do the Gallaghers any harm did it?), but most of these routines're too universal to settle into such cosy pigeonholes. And it's that universality, that sense of shared gripes, that makes Andrew so accessible, his set so enjoyable, even his viciousest barbs so feelgood. There's bile here, but there's also cheeky charm and winning wit and - that's right - lotsa laughs.
"Andrew Bird, you take the toughest job on Earth and make it look criminally easy. And I can't even hate you for it."
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