Review by Hilary Wardle

Sam Fletcher is a likeable, geeky young man with some good ideas, but unfortunately they don’t hang together quite as well as they should.

The concept behind his show is solid and has a lot of potential, but he lacks the self-assurance to do it justice. Sam is a keen doodler and uses a handy little camera linked to a projector to show us his various semi-animated drawings, most of which have been prepared in advance. It would have been a lot more entertaining to watch his create artworks based on audience suggestions, but an early failed attempt to draw a llama clearly shows why he’d rather rely on ones he made earlier.

As well as the doodles, last year’s best newcomer nominee also prods along a running gag that he’s skiving off work for the duration of the Fringe, which sees him pause the show to take calls from his boss. It’s a funny idea that leads to an amusing finale where he attempts to write a report about lasers (complete with diagrams, tables and pictures) in just five minutes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sit very neatly alongside the drawing element of the show.

There are also a few sections that don’t seem to go anywhere at all, notably several minutes spent watching him attempt to swing a teabag into an empty mug. He jokes about the fact that the audience have paid money to watch him do that and he’s clearly taken back by the palpable sense of hostility that he gets in response. ‘Don’t worry,’ he quips. ‘We have something in common- I’ve spent a lot on this show too.’

As responses go, it probably isn’t the best. Having said that, Drawn Out Jokes isn’t a rip off: his use of iPhone’s Siri helper is witty and very well done. In fact, the robotic voice comes very close to stealing the show, putting on Skrillex instead of the classical music Sam asks for, dramatically misspelling an email to Sam’s boss and cheerfully refusing to do anything he’s told, like a modern day HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

These sections are so well done that you can’t help but think that there’s definitely some mileage in a show that’s just Sam and Siri, musing on life, the universe and everything.

Another high point is a nice animated sketch called ‘eyes’ that is as well observed as it is cleverly done. It’s just a shame that the elements that work well are so disparate and disconnected. It feels like a primordial soup full of swirling ideas for stand-up; some of which have the potential to evolve and others that should be consigned to the drawing board.

Review date: 20 Aug 2013
Reviewed by: Hilary Wardle