Review: David Baddiel: My Family – Not the Sitcom (Vaudeville Theatre)

In a Q&A session following the show, comedian David Baddiel admits that My Family: Not the Sitcom is his grieving process following the sudden death of his mother. Her passing, which is obviously still raw for Baddiel, was so unexpected that he didn't have time to come to terms with it, and so he wrote this show as his eulogy to her.

But don't come expecting a loved-up account of how wonderful his mum was. "If you want to truly preserve the memory of someone, you have to pull out their flaws", Baddiel claims. And pull out her flaws he does.

Sarah Baddiel was five when her Jewish-German family fled the Nazis and headed to Britain. She married a Welshman, Colin Baddiel, but began a lifelong affair with a golf enthusiast, something she, bizarrely, enjoyed talking about with her children, David and his two brothers. From leaving carbon copies of love letters lying around the house, to cc'ing her sons in on x-rated emails ("My clitoris is on fire"); Mrs B was shameless, something Baddiel says he's inherited.

And that's apparent in how audaciously frank he is when discussing things that would make most other people sick with embarrassment; childhood memories of hearing his parents "at it", a book of erotic poetry, his mother's terrible misuse of "inverted commas"; Baddiel pulls no punches as he proceeds to defame his mother in the name of comedy.

But that's what she would have wanted, claims Baddiel. And that's why it's important to remember her for who she really was, because to ignore the crazy things she did would be to forget her altogether.

As Baddiel clicks through his Powerpoint presentation, at times it feels like a therapy session crossed with a hilarious TED talk. In the hands of a lesser gifted performer, much of the material would be difficult to stomach, but Baddiel's blasé audacity is endearing, we become 700 therapists, willing him on.

Material about social media trolls and his father's struggle with dementia feels superfluous, but not enough to detract from this warm and very funny show, which should really be called David Baddiel: My Mother, not a Romcom.

David Baddiel – My Family, Not the Sitcom runs at the Vaudeville Theatre until 15 October.