Festival Comedy list.co.uk/festival
Telephone Booking Fringe 0131 226 0000 International Festival 0131 473 2000 Book Festival 0845 373 5888 Art Festival 07500 461 332 DANIEL SLOSS Teen comic hits home with the personal ●●●●●
It’s not news most in the audience can relate to, but 19-year-old Daniel Sloss is getting on a bit. Or so he thinks he is, in only his second solo show at the Fringe. It’s an interesting narrative for the Fife teen to follow, opening up the often repeated ‘chair groan’ observation to a whole new audience of self-conscious teenagers. Except, instead of the pain of relocating to and from furniture, it’s the terror of no longer fitting your whole hand in a Pringles tube that is Sloss’ biggest worry. There’s a lot of growing up to do yet for Sloss though, with lazy throwaways involving Jongleurs, tropes of Essex girls and masturbation which are unmerited even in their context. It’s testament to his talent that you know he’s better than such material, yet it’s only a couple of years since ‘schoolboy humour’ wasn’t even a metaphor in his case. His most personal material comes across best, however, with insights into the family dynamic offering new ground that holds promise for next year. Even if, at 20, he may be past it. (Thomas Meek) ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 30 Aug (not 15), 6.40pm, £10–£11.50 (£8.50–£10).
ELIS JAMES Scruffy yet sharp show about obsessions ●●●●●
Elis James is charming company. Even when fluffing the end of his show, he’s wooed the audience with the skills of a sharp compere so they totally forgive the slip. His show Daytripper is 36 THE LIST 12–19 Aug 2010
ostensibly about his love of short trips in the UK, but the dominant tale involves his obsessive love for fellow Welsh entertainers Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. At times, accent aside, he has a touch of Rob Brydon in his mannerisms, with his wide-eyed incredulity and love of the weird caught in the mundane. However, there’s a freshness about James; this is an underpolished scruff of a show, strung together by a series of chatty anecdotes and diary readings which, even if not entirely authentic, are funnier than most who try this technique. There are still some sections which feel as though they’re still missing that killer punchline, but the chat is well worth a fiver and an hour in a basement. The best thing? Knowing there’s a five-star show somewhere in that boy. (Siân Bevan) ■ The Tron, 226 0000, until 29 Aug (not 19), 7.40pm, £5.
REGINALD D HUNTER Funny but familiar material ●●●●●
While Reg D Hunter remains one of the most compelling presences on the UK comedy stage, it appears that he has become afflicted with Wil Hodgson syndrome. Like the pink- haired Care Bear-lovin’ former communist and wrestler from Chippenham, Hunter was a breath of fresh air when he first arrived on the circuit. Now a few years down the line and both comics seem trapped by the material and public image which initially helped make them stand out. In contemporary bullshit parlance, their USP is no longer quite so U. It’s not just that Hunter is not able (or
not bothered) to give us a Fringe title that doesn’t have the word ‘nigga’ in it; but he tackles that in this show and that’s all fair enough. What’s less amusing is that the content of this
hour, Trophy Nigga, could have been performed by him at any time in the last five or six years. There’s the stories about his crazy family back home in Georgia, his strongheld belief that women are a bit goofy, and hey, don’t you Brits do sarcasm well? Still, a simulacrum of old Reg is better than the majority of new Fringe comics by some long way. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug (not 17), 8pm, £14–£16 (£12–£14).
JONNY SWEET Derailing a show about a boat ●●●●●
So how do you follow up a hugely silly but wildly successful PowerPoint-happy Fringe hit? You go a step further and make Let’s Just Have Some Fun (And Learn Something for Once), a freewheeling romp about awkward failure and a terribly helpful lecture rolled into one. Last summer’s show revolved around Jonny Sweet’s not-actually-real brother Arthur, a once- successful but recently deceased book blurbist. With Arthur’s reputation having been soiled, Sweet sets out to rescue his memory amid a cruel world. This time around, Sweet’s character (pink shirt, bow- tie, sharp trousers) appears to have once served on the HMS Nottingham, a vessel which has seen better days. Amid a series of ludicrous slides and quaintly bizarre statements (‘that’s the broccoli, here’s the cabbage’), he takes us firmly by the hand through the life of a largely decommissioned frigate, just about dealing with
some hostility from one unimpressed crowd member while the likes of Tim Key and Mark Watson look on. Like last year’s Best Newcomer-winning show, there is a great deal of physicality between performer and audience with Sweet greeting the entering crowd with bear hugs or kisses on top of the head. And he invites a confident front row member to join him in bootcamp where the protracted build-up to a duel takes place.
Of course, a lecture about a fading boat can only go so far, but when it all appears to be coming down around his ears, equally nonsensical back-up plans are activated. A wildly funny beginning and finale bookend a large segment of awkwardness which deliberately derails the project until Sweet brings it all back home. The judges who took to Jonny Sweet last year could do a lot worse than popping back in again this time around. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug (not 16), 7.30pm, £10.50–£12 (£9–£10.50).