Know Your Enemy

"Put them in context. The Telegraph did a bad review. They came on the very first night even though we said we didn't want press there. They were like: 'Well, we're going to try and fuck him up'. Clearly their agenda wasn't: 'Oh, I'm really looking forward to seeing Steve Coogan'. What do I think of the guy who wrote the review? I think he's a bit of a cunt to be honest but I don't stay awake at night worrying about it. We've had great reviews since. The Liverpool Echo didn't give us a good review because we didn't have screens up, which was a technical error. And Scousers hate Mancunians and the feeling's mutual. All the northern cities that aren't maudlin have enjoyed it. We know it's a good show."

Steve Coogan on the critical reception afforded to his latest show.

Now, bearing in mind my own review of 'Alan Partridge And Other Less Successful Characters' was on balance positive, there's a lot of guff in here. Let's unpack it.

"They came on the very first night even though we said we didn't want press there."

That's ridiculous. If the show's deemed good enough for an audience paying in the region of £40 a ticket, then it should be good enough to be withstand the critics. If, as Coogan's suggesting, it wasn't quite ready, that's not something those punters should have had to fork out for.

"They were like: 'Well, we're going to try and fuck him up'. Clearly their agenda wasn't: 'Oh, I'm really looking forward to seeing Steve Coogan'."

I can imagine it must be frustrating to feel reviewers have a hidden (or not-so-hidden) agenda, but to the outsider it can look like paranoia, evidence of a persecution complex - particularly when there certainly are aspects of the show that merit criticism.

"What do I think of the guy who wrote the review? I think he's a bit of a cunt to be honest but I don't stay awake at night worrying about it."

This is especially bizarre. Either he's knowingly playing up to the caricatured Coogan of the behind-the-scenes footage of 'The Man Who Thinks He's It', or that fictionalised character wasn't actually so much of a caricature after all. What's next - will he try attacking said critic by swinging a large ball of plasticine with fish hooks set in it into his face?

"The Liverpool Echo didn't give us a good review because we didn't have screens up, which was a technical error. And Scousers hate Mancunians and the feeling's mutual. All the northern cities that aren't maudlin have enjoyed it."

Ah, the regional bias, and a Boris-esque contempt for Merseyside - sounds like a pretty lame excuse. And if he knew "Scousers hate Mancunians and the feeling's mutual", then why bother have the tour stop off in Liverpool in the first place?

"We know it's a good show."

The last, ultra-defensive refuge of the critically maligned, roughly translating as: "Anyone who's dissatisfied can go fuck themselves because we know best".

I suppose Coogan can't really be seen to admit flaws and weaknesses in the show given that it's still touring and he doesn't want to talk down the product for those who've yet to see it - but, all the same, this response is still disappointing.