Patrick Spicer: Who's This All of a Sudden? | Edinburgh Fringe comedy review
review star review star review half star review blank star review blank star

Patrick Spicer: Who's This All of a Sudden?

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

If stand-up were a video game, Patrick Spicer would be the default avatar. A white twentysomething man with floppy hair, a T-shirt and an affable hour about masculinity, anxiety and projecting an image to the world that might not be the real him – the absolute dictionary definition of ‘usual’ for an Edinburgh show.

His debut’s sociable, confident, upbeat, decently funny – but unforgettable in an ocean of similar prospects. Ironic, perhaps, since he themes the hour around fostering a personal brand.

Spicer defined his values as cool, strong, brave and cheeky… though of course he never lives up to them as a beta millennial who was disappointed in his reaction to being mugged by a teenager and whose attempt to be one of the ‘boys’ was always doomed to fail.

There are stories of drug-taking, of therapy, of being late to lose his virginity, and of humiliating medical examination – anyone got a full house on their bingo-card of topics yet? Like so many others, he uses swaggering laddish terms to talk about sex to underline the contrast with his actual, polite self.

That said, the anecdote about going to the ‘bum doctor’ – in a bizarre conclusion to his unfulfilled quest to find out what was wrong with him – does contain some amusingly absurd imagery as his ignominy intensifies. He’s a solid, gregarious and engaging storyteller, and the ‘cheeky’ part of his brand, at least, stands up to scrutiny – even if it’s always his own feelings of inadequacy that are at the sharp end of his wit.

And at the end, Spicer’s message is ‘be true to yourself’. Because of course it is. It always is.

• Patrick Spicer: Who’s This All of a Sudden? is on at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose at 6.20pm

Review date: 15 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon Patter House

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.