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Dan Clark: 57 Minutes Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2003
Dan Clark: 57 Minutes

Show Rating:Dan Clark: 57 Minutes rated 4/5

What would you do with 57 minutes left to live? Well, if you're Dan Clark you'd put together an impressive collection of delightfully silly sketches and warm, likeable stand-up.

Appearing on the Fringe for the first time without his Electric Eel chums, Clark quickly proves himself to be a quirky, talented act with a deft tongue-in-cheek style.

His clever premise is underscored with a wealth of equally inventive ideas, oddball non-sequiturs and classy, quotable punchlines. Not every element works, but those that do, work brilliantly.

For his last 57 minutes on the planet, Clark is joined by stand-up Tom Price in a double act boasting absolutely no on-stage chemistry. Which is, of course, the joke - and just one of several very good ones that pepper the show.

Between them, they perform a series of sketches, as Clark supposedly tries to make the most of the limited time he has left - going on dates, trying to make his mark and so forth.

It all has a lovely, distinctive feel - a consistent, warm-hearted style that sets it apart from the crowd.

There are flaws: the show does lose its way a little in the later stages, the stand-up doesn't match the highs of the best sketches, and for such a strong theme, the countdown to death does tend to be easily forgotten.

Had it been called 37 minutes, this would have been a five-star show, so good is the cream of the crop. As it is, it's still a little treasure waiting to be discovered.

Review by Steve Bennett
 
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