EDINBURGH Comedy
Simon Brodkin, left, aka the gung-ho prankster who handed Theresa May her P45 and showered Fifa crook Sepp Blatter in dollar bills, has eschewed stunts for stand-up again, and it’s a natural fit. Having firmly left his geezer Lee Nelson character in the past, Brodkin is now revelling in straight stand-up with a satirical bent.
In Xavier (Pleasance, touring until November 24) HHHHH, the gags keep coming as politicians, the royals and the police all get it in the neck in a jam-packed hour with a personal twist. While other comics conjure up dark humour from harrowing tales, Brodkin makes light of his own ADHD to floor his audience with joke after joke. It’s what’s known as comedy. Darren Harriott’s backstory of ‘Dudley native born on the wrong side of the tracks made good’ is one of UK comedy’s great triumphs. His journey from gangs to gongs bubbles away under the surface in Roadman (Pleasance, touring until October 25) HHHHH, as this most infectious of stand-ups mixes stories from his troubled youth with recent tales of his repeated failures on celebrity TV shows. At the heart of this rambling but engaging hour is a powerful lament for father figures in society and that’s what resonates most amid all the fun and froth.
A world away from the mean streets of Dudley, Eton-educated Ivo Graham shares one thing with Harriott in that he’s rubbish on TV. Possibly the worst contestant ever on Taskmaster, Graham became a national joke earlier this year. Instead of taking it on the chin, he has now doubled down with Organised Fun (Pleasance, touring until November 19) HHHHH, a game show best described as Audience Top Trumps Live. It’s a piece of fluff – an early-onset midlife crisis if you will – but the sooner he gets back to his well-crafted, selfdeprecating stand-up the better.
Fiona Allen was big on TV two decades ago with the all-female sketch show Smack The Pony along with Sally Phillips and Doon Mackichan. The least visible of the trio since they disbanded in 2003, Allen is now making her stand-up debut aged 58 in On The Run (Pleasance, touring until November 23) HHHHH with mixed results. She is far from a natural stand-up but her breezy style, character voices and amusing anecdotes keep things zipping along.