Nine pounds short of laughs

For about three months now, we've had the Daily Show on British television, almost daily. Today, Jon Stewart appeared in a West End theatre in London - the Prince Edward, which normally shows Mary Poppins.

The Texan booked tickets so we all went down to see the matinee performance. On the way up to town, the I told the Vol-in-Law that for £21.50 (including booking fee), I expected to laugh about 40 times. That's just a little over 50 pence a laugh, which I thought was a generous measure.

Well... it was pretty good, but I'm not sure we got our money's worth.

In public speaking, there are really two things you gotta know, your stuff and your audience. Jon Stewart, his producer and writer, knew their stuff, but they hadn't quite worked out who their audience was. Now, I know that when you go to a city like London, which is in England, you might expect an English audience. But, I know London crowds a little better, and I'd estimate that at least half, if not more, of the audience were American (with the occasional sneaky Canadian thrown in.) After all, the Daily Show hasn't been on that long here, so it's mostly Americans who know who this guy is and are willing to cough up the West End ticket money. Jon Stewart and Co kept saying things like, "In your country...". I wanted to say "Dude, your country is our country." They also failed to recognise the curious accent that Americans long-time resident in this country get (kind of like Madonna's faux English accent, but just not as strong) and assumed that at least one American was a Brit, until she corrected him.

Mostly they just read from America, the Book. There was a little stand up, and a little Q&A. And Woody Harrelson* came on and read a bit (he's currently appearing in the West End Tennessee Williams' Eye of the Iguana). In all, we estimated that it was worth £12.50 - nine pounds shy of our ticket price. I expect to pay little or no money to see somebody try to flog their book, which we did not buy as I expect we'd paid enough into the Daily Show coffers as it is. The Texan was so certain she hadn't received value for money that she would be less of a fan now. I said I would still watch the show for free. She said she'd watch the show, but would only laugh grudgingly.

The Q&A was probably the best part, although the few British (& one sneaky Canadian) questioners kept going on about damn Kyoto protocol stuff, to which Jon Stewart replied "Well, this may surprise you, but we don't actually make policy at the Daily Show."

The final question was: "Condaleeza Rice vs Hilary Clinton, who would you rather see as president and who would you rather have as your wife?"

The response: I'd rather bang Condi.

Update: Others in the audience seem to feel the same: Let me axe you a question and The Golmal Press
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* Is Woody Harrelson the Hollywood star recently turned down for a dog from Battersea Dogs' and Cats' Home? Enquiring readers want to know.