Shane Todd

Shane Todd

Date of birth: 09-06-1988
Comic from Hollywood, just outside Belfast, who has had his own BBC Radio Ulster and appeared in the mockumentary sitcom Soft Border Patrol as head of PR Laurie Lyle.
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Shane Todd: Holywood to Hollywood

Note: This review is from 2016

Review by Paul Fleckney

Over from Northern Ireland to make his debut is Shane Todd, a fledgling comic with a nice line in self-deprecation. He’s a slight man with a slight style, and despite this being a show with plenty of fat on it, I think he left the audience feeling warmly disposed to him.

The premise behind Holywood to Hollywood is Todd’s ambition to turn on the Christmas lights in his tiny home town of Holywood. He is, he reckons, a bigger star than the last guy who did it, who accidentally appeared in an advert once. To do this, he travels to Hollywood, to try to make it big.

It could almost be the premise for a sitcom, so steeped it is in Britishness irony and underdoggery. Todd makes a decent enough stab at turning this into a full Edinburgh show. His willingness to portray himself as the idiot or weakling is his main comic weapon, and he wields it well, especially when he recalls being a boy and castigating his hard-working dad for not earning enough money. His recurring joke about being constantly thwarted by minor health ailments is also used just often enough (showing good judgment on Todd’s part).

It’s quite inefficient progress through the show, though. Too many of the diversions are either unsatisfactory or a bit pointless. One, about his accent bringing a fast food restaurant in LA to a standstill goes on far too long considering there is no payoff. Another, about some boys he knows back home all with nicknames that refer to their necks, is of no interest and adds nothing to the show.

The whole thing comes to a nice climax, although Todd’s under-statement prevents him from selling it bigger, which is what it merits. Considering the show includes a weak drug anecdote, it seems a waste to neglect the ending as he does.

Todd is a very pleasurable comic to be in the company of for an hour. His show isn’t one to stick in the brain, but there are some very clear flashes of comic talent.

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Published: 12 Aug 2016

Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2015

Shane Todd – Sick Bro!


Edinburgh Fringe 2016

Shane Todd – Holywood To Hollywood


Edinburgh Fringe 2019

Shane Todd: Work in Progress


Edinburgh Fringe 2023

Shane Todd: Mummy (Work in Progress)


Edinburgh Fringe 2024

Shane Todd – Live!


Agent

We do not currently hold contact details for Shane Todd'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.

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