At Chortle Fast Fringe 2010

Performing an extract from his show, Purist

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Gary Delaney: Purist
Live Review

Gary Delaney has been a comedian for ten years, yet this is his first solo show. That’s a lot of material to draw on, especially when you’re as prodigious and prolific a writer of razor-sharp one-liners as he is.

The gags are brilliantly crisp; often as short as five or six words, which makes this is a super-concentrated hour of punchlines, probably about 300 of them crammed in tighter than the audience in this way-too-small venue. You’re even a sheet with some more on as you leave, just to further boost the gags-per-penny rate.

So much for quantity, what about quality? Well, that’s impressively high, too. Some jokes are inevitably better than others, but even the weakest has had to earn its place ahead of thousands of competitors. They are eminently quotable, and the temptation for me to include loads here to appear funny by proxy is huge, but I’ll resist.

There are a couple of groaners in the pack, but no duds, with a range that spans from sweet bits of wordplay to deliciously bad-taste assault. Delaney makes no bones about that, putting a disclaimer at the top of the show that he simply finds the evil ones funny. You would have to be sensitive to get truly offended, as Delaney is clearly just having great fun. ‘I’m supposed to be deadpan,’ he admits. ‘But I keep laughing.’

It’s a good move. Deadpan is a very hard style to maintain over 60 minutes of one-liners and still keep the audience laughing. Stephen Wright may manage it, but he may well be in a minority of one. While Delaney doesn’t have the knockabout pantomime of Tim Vine, his enjoyment is palpable and infectious. As other comics have found, a show like this needs a few devices to break it up, and he’s included a few games to dress up more gags in ways different enough to maintain interest.

And as for the woman who came out of the show muttering to her friend: ‘All he did was get load of gags and remember them – I could do that,’ that’s rather like saying Rachmaninoff just pressed keys. This is a hugely impressive collection of exquisitely crafted gags by one of Britain’s grandmasters of the one-liner. The show has certainly been worth the wait.

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Absolute genius and a really nice man who spoke to lots of people afterwards. He should have his own TV show. Funnier than all of them on telly. Laughter non stop. A very very clever man.

Jonno, May 2011

Can't wait to see him live. With such brilliant one liners, how come he isn't as big as Jimmy Carr?

Sarah, May 2011

Wot, no comments on Gary's Edinburgh show??? Unfortunately I missed the festival, but was delighted to see Gary in Sunderland on Friday - the first time in about 5 years. To say he has improved might belittle his natural genius, but that he can produce so much consistent A1 quality material leaves me in awe (after I've stopped crying and my sides have stopped aching). If you like your comedy fast, dark and clever, and you're happy to spend 20, 40 or 60 minutes without a clue what's coming next (except laughs), then see Gary!

Sean Kelly, October 2010

Saw Gary at the Reading festival a few weeks ago, a difficult gig and others after him failed miserably; he was superb however, really got the crowd on his side and could have done another hour and people wouldn't have been bored; sheer class.

Nik Hill, September 2009

This guy is brilliant. He says he's the 7th Best Joke-Writer in the World. In my eyes, he's the third. I would only rate Milton Jones and Zach Galifianakis before him. Otherwise, his one-liners are the best. He has a great mixture and consistency of gags. Most of his one-liners fall between neat and exceptionally inspired. He is industrious and ruthlessly efficient with language. There's just too many to even try to remember. The work of a genius.

Dave Townshend, September 2009

Had the pleasure to see Gary live a few days ago. He was fantastic - some of the lines were just unbelievably funny. Granted, some of them questioned my moral compass, but always left me with a smile on my face. The work of a true genius. Why isn't he on MM's Comedy Roadshow when other breezy comedians with hack material are. It's comedy injustice!

Bill Ryan, July 2009

Gary Delaney is now bigger and improved. OK, he's just bigger, and I don’t mean in a taller way. But he still follows the way of the one-liner. And sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s not, but sometimes it’s bloody funny. Worth seeing just because he’s different to your average raconteur who relies on saying fuck to get a laugh.

john foulger, June 2009

At school, teachers routinely lectured pupils about the importance of all good stories having a ‘beginning’, a ‘middle’ and an ‘end’. Never before have I seen a comedian compartmentalise his act with such stunning efficiency. Remarkably, as he warns his audience that the level of ‘taste & decency’ is about to escalate, in a heartbeat, it does exactly that. None of his material is what you and I would characterise as PC, but somehow, he manages to take you from one ‘dark place’ to another… each time dimming the lights further and further until you are overcome by total blackout from extreme laughter. In spite of his uncompromisingly dark tone - his undeniable likeability, charm and childlike cringing at his own material make him an absolute joy to watch. Superb!

connor, February 2009

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