Darren Harriott returns to Black Country roots with Wolverhampton show - review

The title of his show depicts him really- a good hearted young man,for those that aren’t familiar with the term 'yute'.

He opened the show by talking about how at home he felt being back in the Black Country and the frustration of having moved to London. He is constantly having to explain to southerners where exactly the Black Country is, a frustration many of us can relate to.

Then he moved on to what life was like growing up in Oldbury. The pressure to show no emotion (as it would be seen as weakness) whilst growing up in Sandwell was something that was mirrored at home too.

We learned that his mum desperately loved him, but they rarely said it to one another in their household. He relates this lack of ability to show affection to possibly being the reason as to why he’s never been in love.

Harriott’s love life woes were what really what got the crowd roaring with laughter. Starting from his experiences in school where he told us that he was too overweight to keep up in kiss chase, so he was often left refereeing the game for his school friends.

This spilled over in to his teenage years where he used to attend under 18 raves, and whilst his friends were busy getting phone numbers off their girlfriends to be, he was back to referring, just like in kiss chase.

I attended the show with my friend who is a very experienced psychologist, and while she loved the show, we both couldn’t help but feel that some of his jokes masked some deep tragedy in his life.

He joked about his mum and dad not being compatible because his dad was a drug addict and dealer therefore they didn’t have much in common. And, for an attractive, successful young man to have never been in love at 31, that made me feel a little sad.

It’s almost hard to believe as he’s so charismatic, confident and impeccably fashionable! He was dressed in a cool hoodie and cargo patterned tracksuit bottoms with matching trainers.

And then came the political jokes, which of course, I particularly enjoyed. He mocked the Government’s approach to tackling violent youth crime by banning drill music.

He reflected on the days when he was in a gang and told us that gang members will beat someone up while singing Sweet Female Attitude's I'll Bring You Flowers. It wasn't the genre of music wasn’t the issue.

He made it obvious where he stood on key issues like LGBTQ+ classes in schools, saying that he was supportive of them and he believes they teach children and young people about acceptance from a young age.

It was a fantastic stand-up set and I was so impressed by his stamina to just keep going.

Review by Beverley Momenabadi