Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

At the age of 27, Horatio Gould jokes that he’s a tribal elder of Gen Z. Existing on the cusp of two age groups who feel distinct from each other (to those involved, at any rate) he has some thoughts to share about their differences. 

After noting that those millennial blokes who thought it was hilarious to get a moustache tattooed on their fingers – oh, the entertainment! – are 42 now, he goes on to consider the identities we seek for ourselves.

Gould uses his father’s generation’s perception of young people being ‘snowflakes with learning difficulties’ as a jumping-off point to imagine an Army staffed by people with differing abilities. His subversion of the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ edict leads to a strong bit about who would be best suited to spreading disinformation, and the military theme dovetails nicely both with a fresh comparison between men and women’s podcast habits, and some satisfying material about British celebrity chefs.

Observations about the ethics of cannibalism and the ways in which the art of the online sex scam has gone downhill are also fun and sharp.

It’s a golden age for funny-looking guys, argues Gould, who has one particularly great gag about his appearance. But there’s another one, again, against himself, that sails a little close to the wind, taste-wise. 

There’s a lot going on in this joke-rich show, and there are moments when you yearn for him to spend longer developing some of them. For instance, there’s a heck of a line about his formative experiences on online role-playing game RuneScape that he throws away. It gets a laugh thanks to his delivery, but you’re left wondering if it really was a gag or not

He’s also got some attractive theories about how, collectively, Gen Zers don’t have much to believe in, which is why they’ve formed multiple identities in the way older people would have aligned themselves to musical sub-genres. It would have been great to hear more on this. 

Still, this is a good show from a great comic mind, with lots to commend it. 

Review date: 20 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Ashley Davies
Reviewed at: Pleasance Dome