But he won me over within five minutes of walking on-stage. Like a British Roddy McDowell, he knows everyone in the world. His one-man show allows him to drop names with shameless abandon, followed by an outrageous anecdote that he swears is true.
His only props are a table with an old fashioned radio, a water bottle and the skull from his first Hamlet production.
He does a passable Sir Noel Coward impersonation, revels in the nostalgia of early television programmes, recounts stories of drunk actors, naughty actors and ageing actors.
He totters across the stage as a ninety-year-old Dame Sybil Thorndike, referring to her as “Dame Edith” midway through the story before correcting himself.
His description of Ann Widdecombe as a cross between Danny DeVito and Dame Margaret Rutherford had me in stitches, his duet with June Whitfield’s recorded voice had me in tears.
I am now convinced that Brandreth is a cross between Peter Ustinov and Barry Humphries.
Resistance is futile.
Leicester Square Theatre (UK tour until July 3) Tickets here.