COMEDY

Damian Clark: Extra Show

Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) Fringe regular Damian Clark wasn’t around last year. He’d just become a father, so was rather busy. And probably knackered. But he’s back with a fount of new material, and if he’s had any sleepless nights due to the little ’un, you’d never know based on the speedtalking dynamo before us. Clark’s energy levels make windfarms look like one of those tiny toy windmills he might give his new kid.

Baby, though, has different things to amuse him. There’s pooing up his back, making cutely demonic noises and screaming when he wakes up. Clark never liked newborns, but after living with one for a while he gets them, he knows just why they always seem so alarmed on waking up from a long sleep, as he illustrates in a delightfully demented bit of business. We also hear about how a tenner now could save his offspring thousands in the future, the best way to prevent a dummy getting lost, and plenty more baby-related tales and musings.

This isn’t your sentimental proud new daddy show, though, it’s fatherhood in the raw and not simply for parents. And it’s not all post-baby – Clark has a tremendous tale of what happened when he decided to surprise his partner with a new car to coincide with the birth.

Extra Show – so titled because it’s his ambition to win one of these Fringe badges of honour – is hilarious from start to finish, a comedic calling card from the Dublin-based Aussie. And while, according to the Fringe website, it’s suitable for over-16s only, the ‘babes in arms’ policy does say bairns under two get in free... go on, try it!

MARTIN GRAY

Until 26 August. Today 10pm.