It’s rich of Tim Key, his agent tells him, playing the underdog “when you’re lighting up cinemas with Carey Mulligan”. But play the underdog he does in Loganberry, his exquisitely tart and amusing take on that standup staple, the midlife crisis show. Other comics invite you to take seriously their existential wrestle with ageing and insignificance. Key’s is a game of cat-and-mouse, a twinkling ironic tease inviting us to wonder how lonely, furious, insecure – and indeed how old – this acclaimed comedian, actor and film-maker really is.
The trigger for this descent into forty- (or is it thirty-) something angst is an invitation from his recent House of Games opponent, sports presenter Gabby Logan, on to her podcast about middle age. Key is outraged at the implication, retreating from the microphone – as he does throughout the show – to bellow at the rough justice he receives (“Where’s my MBE? Everything I do is for this fucking empire!”) from life, the world and his uncomprehending public.
