Graham Norton has had a remarkable career. With his ‘An Evening With Graham Norton’ shows in Australia and New Zealand, Graham is sharing insights into an occupation that grew organically.
Graham shares video of his very first time on television as a teenager in a studio audience in Ireland. As an 18 year old he wasn’t shy on giving an opinion and so we see the young Graham participating in debate about discos with the same confidence he has in front of the biggest stars on the planet today.
Even in the early 90s, Graham’s vocation direction was still up in the air. He tried comedy, he tried acting but it wasn’t until he was given a fill-on roll on a late night talk show in the late 90s when the career consolidation took place.
“An Evening With Graham Norton” looks back at the life of Graham. There isn’t a lot of personal info because, as he says, in his down time he likes to drink wine and stare at a wall. Norton did marry in 2022. He said it was a small wedding with no celebrities but despite that, there were reports of alleged sightings of Lady Gaga at the airport and Elton John downing a pint in an Irish pub down the road from the ceremony. In the tradition of English media, when they can’t find a story they just make it up.
He did have a promiscuous past which provides stories for the stage that would not be appropriate for TV. Like … well, you all know the “dog ate my homework” line. Replace “homework” with “used condom” and you might get the context of the anecdote.
Part one of the show is the Graham story. Part two is Q&A.
In Part One we are treated to some hilarious moments from Graham’s TV shows. There is a clip of Grace Jones trying to convince someone on the phone she actually is Grace Jones, a completely inebriated Mark Wahlberg, an uncensored Joan Rivers and an unfiltered Robbie Williams who doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of “too much information”.
Miriam Margolyes is also another unfiltered friend of Graham’s. As Graham tells the story, the banter between his mother and Miriam should have been a show by itself.
Graham did have an answer for “who was the worst interview”. The answer is Harvey Weinstein who really did appear on his show in 2007.
The Q&A part is purely ad-lib. Random questions are yelled out from the audience, and Graham responds guaranteeing a completely different second half for every night of this tour. We did learn that Graham buys his clothes at retail. He doesn’t have a celebrity tailor. We also learned he loves Melbourne for shopping.
Graham Norton is likeable, natural and funny. ‘An Evening With Graham Norton’ doesn’t feel like a show. Its more like having a mate around to tell a few yarns.
Graham has three Sydney shows to go before popping over to New Zealand for shows in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
Tickets are scarce. There’s some slim pickings here.
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