Micky Flanagan – What Chance Change?

Micky Flanagan – What Chance Change? (Radio 4) started with an understated introduction from his mum. "He's a real old chatterbox," she said. There's a homely feel throughout the comedy here, as Flanagan self-deprecatingly charts his progress from "an East End Herbert to middle-class intellectual giant," chatting to old friends between clips of him on stage. That blend works well on radio, softening the stand-up format that can feel a bit excluding when you listen away from the show. The material is very ticklish, class-based stuff, much of which in last night's programme was about the limited horizons at his school. One gag revolved around a boy in his class telling a careers adviser that he wanted to drive a van. "We erupted," said Flanagan, recalling the funny taunts they all cried out: "You dreamer, Hutton – you have to write to Jimmy Savile for that stuff." What makes this likeable is Flanagan's admission of the considerable awkwardness he's felt in both worlds – the one he grew up in and the middle-class one he now lives in. The occasional line, not meant to be funny, deftly captures this. He described seeing children from a local estate in his leafy road, peering into the big houses. "I know what you're going through," he said, identifying with them, "but I couldn't stay."