Show reviewed: 15/03/26

Show rated: With a due respect, 4.5 stars.

Sully O’Sullivan is a Kiwi expat who was recently colonised by the British and in A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Britain, he explores British ineptitude in all it’s glorious aspects from her culture, to its long history and of course, the unbreakable character of the people that inhabit this small island themselves. Sully terms this cultural resilience as failing upwards and how idiotic British choices have created some of the biggest, most iconic successes of all time.

Some of those interesting trivia, such as how Stonehenge became a public monument and the shady history of the Cerne Abbas giant, are personally familiar to me. However other fun facts like turning the hanging of a monkey suspected of espionage for the French into a regional identity for the people of Hartlepool, England, is entirely new knowledge. And I’m impressed that a traffic cone on a statue from a party prank in the 1980s has become some of the cultural heritage of Glasgow…

O’Sullivan is one of the friendliest, most easy going comedians out there and this hour of show went by very quickly with his dry humour, hilarious commentary on the quirks of Britain and his ability to engage with the audience so his crowd work doesn’t feel like an attack but something we want to participate in. He knows his subject material well enough to take the piss out of England, Wales and Scotland equally, though I’d like to take a minute of silence for Northern Ireland…

My love affair with all things British began with a boy from Dorset, England, that I crossed several oceans for in the early 2000s that insisted I study for my university abroad by reading Bill Bryson’s classic, Notes From A Small Island and Thomas Hardy. It was definitely a culture shock that went both ways to me to learn that apparently drinking hot tea during a heat wave is considered refreshing and the guy’s family had to mentally adjust to the idea that butter belongs in the fridge during a heat wave. Then there’s the debate what goes on first, cream or the jam on the scones in a Devonshire tea!

After reading Hardy, I developed a fear of adders that seemed irrational to the English guy, (it’s not like I come from a country full of aggressive, poisonous wildlife that will try to kill you just for looking at it the right way or anything!) but thanks to Bryson, I knew what to expect and was prepared when I went through Birmingham’s train station. The relationship ended (I was made to go to a tractor festival as a date) but my appreciation for Britain and the British people had began in earnest.