Matt Forde: Inside No. 10
At last, a confident performer delivering an hour jam-packed with laughs and barely a pause to breathe. Matt Forde is the best possible presenter of this material, putting little of himself on view and instead introduces the politicians by quote and impression and lets them skewer themselves in their own words.
There’s an element of preaching to the choir here. No audience member would come and be outraged that he satirises the party leaders, past and present. We’re here more in the spirit of ‘well, someone’s got to say it’.
Nobody is safe, and some are definitely more mockable than others. It is joyous to be reminded of Rishi Sunak being left in the dust by schoolchildren asking him the hard questions, his relentless perkiness used as a weapon and then, in the interest of balance, revelling in Keir Starmer’s robotic awkwardness and strangled delivery.
The thing with Forde is that there’s no malice, none of this is an attack. He maintains a genial astonishment at his subjects’ blatant stupidity and arrogance, from the SNP, round and round the Tories, across Labour, even the King gets a serving.
I was surprised by a cheap crack about Nicola Sturgeon, the same one that Simon Evans had in his show, which doesn’t really stack up, and wondered if he’d get stick for repeatedly using ‘this country’ when he clearly meant England. But the audience were less jumpy than me on the subject. However, that is really an insignificant bother in an utterly assured, riotously funny, smooth hour.
Many artists on the Fringe unconsciously tell you by their manner and diffidence that this is their second job, but Forde is professional all day long. He entertains the audience with politics and ideas rather than airing his own anxieties and insecurities in the hope that the audience will find ego-baring a winning formula.
What’s marvellous is that the way things are, he’ll never be short of material.
Published: 15 Aug 2023
Rarely has British politics seemed such a raging bin…
16/06/2022
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need comics like…
21/08/2019
Is there a better political comic than Matt Forde currently…
24/08/2018
Hey, America! You can keep your super-slick, alpha…
19/08/2017
A bold commission from what was once the home of the…
14/09/2016
‘One election every five years seems old-fashioned,’…
3/02/2015
Comics have to play some dives in their line of work...…
24/05/2013
Matt Forde is a naturally funny performer, with a gift…
5/08/2012
Now the Fringe programme has got its long-awaited cabaret…
6/08/2011
Past Shows
Edinburgh Fringe 2014
Matt Forde: 24 Hour Political Party People
Matt Forde: The Political Party - Scottish Independence Special
Matt Forde: The Political Party - Scottish Independence Special
Edinburgh Fringe 2015
Matt Forde: Get the Political Party Started
Matt Forde: Get the Political Party Started
Matt Forde's Political Party Podcast
Edinburgh Fringe 2016
Matt Forde: It's My Political Party (and I'll Cry if I Want to)
Matt Forde's Political Party Podcast
Edinburgh Fringe 2017
Matt Forde: A Show Hastily Rewritten in Light of Recent Events – Again!
Matt Forde's Political Party Podcast
Edinburgh Fringe 2018
Matt Forde: Brexit Through the Gift Shop
Matt Forde: Brexit Through the Gift Shop
Matt Forde's Political Party Podcast
Edinburgh Fringe 2019
Matt Forde: Brexit, Pursued by a Bear
Matt Forde: Brexit, Pursued by a Bear
Matt Forde's Political Party Podcast
Edinburgh Fringe 2022
Matt Forde: Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
Political Party with Matt Forde
Political Party with Matt Forde: Gordon Brown
Edinburgh Fringe 2023
Political Party With Matt Forde
Political Party with Matt Forde: Angela Rayner
Agent
We do not currently hold contact details for Matt Forde's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.