Andrew O'Neill: The History of Punk

Andrew O'Neill brings The History of Punk to Theatre@41 on Saturday 5 September. He's a cult comedian you might recognise from Good Omens, Nevermind The Buzzcocks, and Steve Coogan's Saxondale, and this is a stand-up show that takes punk as its subject.

He describes it as a 'full-volume love letter to punk' rather than a music history lecture, and that's a good way to frame it. It's not a dry chronological list of dates and discographies; it's stand-up and storytelling woven together to trace how the genre evolved. He works his way across a wide stretch of artists, from the early grit of The Stooges and the sharp edge of X-Ray Spex through to the political fire of Pussy Riot and the heavy, atmospheric side of Amebix. It's a broad sweep that doesn't just stick to the household names.

This follows on from his previous show, A History Of Heavy Metal, so if you caught that one, you'll have a sense of how he approaches a musical movement. The two writers who've seen it have been generous: Alan Moore called it 'a loud and thoroughly engrossing love story', and Lee Dorrian of Napalm Death described it as 'a masterclass'.

The show is built for a compact theatre setting, and it focuses on the attitude and the tangled history of the punk movement rather than just the songs. It's a one-man show, so the whole thing rests on O'Neill's delivery. It plays at Theatre@41 in York on 5 September.