Greg Shapiro is a difficult man to dislike. His humour is not belly-laugh, rolling on the floor, tears in your eyes comedy but easy going, relaxed and friendly and, unlike many contemporary comedians, inoffensive – you will be relatively safe sitting in the front row. You feel at home in his company, ready to join him on any path he cares to travel. Yes he’s funny, yes he makes you laugh but his funniness comes from describing familiar situations and our everyday lives from a different viewpoint. But don’t be fooled, behind the avuncular demeanour is a man who does not suffer fools gladly and has a wit and steely eye that will penetrate even the stoutest façade. Truth is the keyword – although he never allows it to stand in the way of a good story.
After living in Amsterdam for the best part of thirty years, with a Dutch wife and family, he has every right to call himself The American Netherlander. But the ties that bind never slacken with us ex-pats and we are constantly looking over our shoulders to see what’s happening back home.
A character like Donald Trump with his absurd antics and claims is grist to any comedian’s mill. If he was billed as a comedian he would pack ‘em in and bring the house down every night. Sadly, as a presidential candidate, he still packs ‘em in but it is the United States he threatens to bring down. But on the plus side Trump has a persona, voice and speech idiosyncrasies which are instantly recognisable and easily mimicked – and Mr Shapiro is a master of this. He has been doing him for the past seven or eight years including doing an ident for ArtsTalk Radio. There was a lull a couple of years back when the ex-president kept his head down and Shapiro used the respite to cultivate and promote the other bee in his bonnet – climate change.
His new comedy tour (Shapiro’s, not Trump’s. Trump’s has been running for some time already) called Leaving Trumpland 2.0 No Country for Old Men – deftly directed by Michael Diederich – has just hit the road and will be visiting all corners of The Netherlands until the middle of November, promising to be a sell-out. Tonight’s performance at the Theater de Veste in Delft was one of the try-outs before the official premiere at De Kleine Komedie in Amsterdam on the 23rd September. Try-outs are considered an important part of the buffing-up and refining of a new act but I have to say that on the evidence of tonight’s performance it was already quite shiny and didn’t need much more polishing.
Mr Shapiro took to the stage in front of packed audience in his customary suit and tie, accompanied by the ubiquitous glass of water on a stool. He explained that this wasn’t quite a re-hash of the 2020 show Leaving Trumpland 1.0 which was cruelly curtailed by the first Covid lockdown, but nevertheless, there were some familiar stories, notably the one about his mother and the famous Holland Second YouTube video. But of course, it was mainly new stuff, including a peek preview of his Kamala Harris impersonation – taking chances, while hedging your bets, is the name of the game when it comes to current affairs based comedy. Michael Hasted 13th September 2024
