There’s always been a bit of cult mentality surrounding Alan Partridge. Much like Monty Python before it, Steve Coogan’s comic creation is stalked by a parade of his own greatest hits, from deliberately cringe-inducing catchphrases (“Aha!”, “smell my cheese”, etc) to recurring bugbears or specific pop cultural neuroses. OK, “cult” is probably too strong of a word, but it’s fair to say that Alan Partridge: Stratagem arrived to find the O2 London a cathedral of the converted.
In Stratagem, Coogan deploys his obnoxious alter ego as some kind of motivational speaker – though this premise is only attacked with the woolliest sense of conviction. He walks out on stage to a re-lyricked version of “We Built This City” by Starship; this then segues into a mercifully brief Hamilton riff. From there, he embarks on a number of comic skits, sometimes involving video projections, sometimes involving on-stage guest stars.
