For those of you who do, and those who don’t, know, “The Hardcore Legend” Mick Foley is embarking on his first, but hopefully not his last, UK comedy tour “Nights in Red Flannel”. I had the opportunity to go to the first of the England dates, in Manchester’s DanceHouse Theatre.
I have to say that from the beginning, I could tell the evening was going to be a good one with the compere being Chris Brooker, and the support acts of Carl Hutchinson and Sully O’Sullivan. They all seemed to be genuinely happy to be a part of the night. It was obvious that all three were wrestling and Foley fans. The first thing I wondered when I was waiting for the show to begin was would the compere or support acts mention the obvious wrestling connection? The answer was an overwhelming yes. It’s safe to say that all acts changed, if not wrote a whole new set, for the evening to incorporate their love of the sport.
Brooker split the crowd down the middle in a ‘Let’s Go Cena’ / ‘Cena Sucks’ style chant. O’Sullivan talked of The Bushwhackers (being a Kiwi himself) or Hutchinson basically coming to the show dressed and a Mean Street Posse member (his words not mine). I don’t think they could’ve used a lot of this material at a normal show, because a lot of people wouldn’t get it. I really enjoyed the support acts and I’d definitely go and see any, or all, of them at their own shows.
On to the main event, with Mrs Foley’s baby boy, Mick. I’m going to be honest and say that I’m a huge Mick Foley fan. I’ve read the books, own the DVDs and watched almost all his career, even the TNA days, but I was still a little sceptical that he could actually pull off a funny, hour-long comedy set. There’s no doubt that he’s a funny guy, but stand-up comedy isn’t an easy thing to do and with every date except one selling out, the pressure was undoubtedly on for the Hardcore Legend.
Within seconds, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand and the rest was plain sailing. I’m not going to give away any of his set, but it was very good. His mix of wrestling stories with everyday life and road anecdotes were fun to hear. As a fan of wrestling since a very young age, I’ve always be fascinated by what goes on backstage. What the superstars are really like, what they’re like to spend time with outside the ring and how they interact with each other.
All of the stories were great, and it was interesting to see what Mick thought of many of his matches and opponents. I don’t think I’m giving too much away here, but it seems that yes, being thrown off the Hell in a Cell at the 1998 King of the Ring did in fact hurt! Haha! Mick also has a very warped vision of what the original Karate Kid movie could’ve been. Take my word for it, you have to hear that to believe it. The look on Chris Brooker’s face through this part of the show was priceless!
After the stand-up part of the show, Mick did a sit down Q&A. This was especially interesting. I didn’t think he was going to be quite as honest, especially when he was asked about The Montreal Screwjob, Sting and inevitably TNA. This was thoroughly enjoyable evening. After spending the two previous nights at two live WWE TV tapings, it was good to see something different, but still in the same genre.
Foley seems like a genuinely nice guy, and this shines through in his stand-up performance. I could honestly say I could’ve listened to him talk about being on the road a lot longer. I would say if the tour ever comes near you, go and see it. You won’t regret it!
Have A Nice Day!
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