At BBC Comedy Presents

Edinburgh 2010

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Mike Wozniak: Egg And Spoon
Live Review

Inspired by his efforts to get his wife pregnant, Mike Wozniak’s meditation on parenthood is all the more entertaining for remaining, like Wozniak Jr currently is, predominantly in the abstract.

Despite his luxuriant moustache, this distinctive comic shares universal male concerns about untested, unproven virility. Although he’s less worried about the strength of his sperm than their potential aggression.

Endearingly prepping his crowd for ‘a bit of the old blue’, he scarcely delivers anything of the sort. A reference to pearl necklaces is amusingly tame, while a slight bend in his penis is responsible for the sort of cricket-ejaculate analogy that the likes of Andy Zaltzman, Chris Addison and Miles Jupp would roar over the boundary.

Although Wozniak and his wife seem to be in the habit of creating unnecessary problems to facilitate his routines, ignoring envelopes with windows and the car’s tax disc, he has a lovely way of spinning commonplace concerns round to his own existential angst – ‘to do’ lists becoming oppressive, Sisyphean tasks that find him passionately yet futilely pleading with the audience for empathy.

Too often, a routine stumbles before it’s begun as he tries and fails to initiate an easy segueway with an obscure reference, or one the crowd intuits but simply can’t be coerced into acknowledging. At times this is amusingly handled, as when he nakedly begs somebody, anybody, to prompt his picnicking material.

Elsewhere though, it needlessly interrupts the flow of the gig, a curious affliction given that he’s quite capable of introducing an outlandish premise – his mother’s use of the term ‘Pidgin English’ as an insult; a female acquaintance fluent in zero languages – and cleverly expand upon it from various angles. Why repeatedly ask after fans of the artist Paul Ackerman if you really want to talk about Paul the psychic octopus?

Returning to his conception theme, he fantasises a Bruce Wayne-style vengeance narrative as reason enough for a big family and takes issue with a self-help book on fertility, detailing the messy procedure he’s supposed to adopt for the act itself,wilfully gripping the wrong end of the stick to envisage a nightmare outcome.

Even if the presentation is sometimes lacking, there’s some fine lines and multiple layers to this original show, Wozniak’s burgeoning, leftfield wit even allowing him to make a mother-in-law joke in 2010.

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I've seen Mike a couple of times and he is without doubt one of the best comedians on the circuit. Wet your pants funny.

Stefan Portland, November 2010

Quite simply - absolutely brilliant - one of my favourite comics.

Romesh Ranganathan, May 2010

I had the pleasure of seeing this impressively 'tached chap as part of the Leicester comedy festival. For me, he has been one of the highlights. He is a great storyteller and his banter with the crowd made it all the more memorable. Well worth checking out.

Christopher Bate, February 2010

Intelligent, original, memorable and very funny material delivered by a natural perfomer - what's not to like?

Hannah, April 2009

I enjoyed his edinburgh show. To be honest it was far better than what Sarah Millican put on display both in structure, content and laughs. It's very easy to talk about relationships, but is it really that easy to talk about dropping muesli down your meatus? While Millican did generic sex toy jokes, Wozniak seemed like a natural storyteller, always referencing previous events that he had told us; his call-backs were brilliant. I can see where Steve is coming from, he is very Herring-esque in style, but I think his material is funny in its own right. Never pedestrian, always original. Definately worth going to watch... I look forward to seeing more of him...

Steve Gibson, April 2009

I was fortunate enough to see Mike at a showcase event this January, I absolutely adored him. from the 'tache to the voice he was fantastic. Perhaps what was most refreshing was that his humor was devoid of unnecessary profanity and was uber science-y (both a huge plus in my eyes). I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to book a comedy gig.

Emily Jayne, February 2009

Awesome. The whole fox / chicken/ bag thing had me laughing for three days. The guy's going to be massive

Billy, November 2008

Saw Mike at the 99 Club last night - while I had great hopes for him from his description - and to be fair to Mike there were people who obviously 'got' him, have to say I didn't think he was funny at all

Mike, November 2008

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