Original Review:

Show Rating:

But though Toulson doesn’t scratch deep, he does manage to find enough of a new angle to keep these topics fresh. More crucially, he is an irresistibly appealing communicator, with a brisk, lively delivery and heaps of likeable charm. He used to be a supply teacher, which might have helped him find such an ease with the most difficult of audiences, let alone an attentive festival crowd. He bounces off their invited contributions effortlessly, bringing an energy and fluidity to his material.

His debut hour is well put-together, if almost totally disconnected with the catch-all title, with smart callbacks and witty asides pushing the stand-up forward. It’s difficult to talk for so long without a driving narrative, especially when you’re a less experienced act, and Toulson manages it… well, nearly.

The extended set slumps in the last 15 minutes or so, where an ill-advised attempt to engage the audience in a battle of Scottish accents falls flat; and a rather familiar, if well-posited, whinge about the lot of comedians on the Fringe is no way to bring a show to a soaring climax, but that’s all he’s got.

As he’s keen to mention, Toulson was once half of a Perrier newcomer-nominated double act (‘The second funniest one,’ he self-effacingly says), and he’s clearly made the leap in being a solid solo stand-up, thanks to that charismatic, engaging delivery. You’ll hope he’ll stretch his wings a little more when it comes to picking topics in future, but this is a reliably entertaining hour to set his career in motion.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett