Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

At a time when some ‘new’ act competitions are open to stand-ups five years into their career, So You Think You Funny? seeks out the newest of the new, with hopefuls having to enter within a year of starting out. 

So it’s always impressive when finalists have a confidence in their style so early on – true of most of the 2024 cohort, but especially winner Alana Jackson.

A trained actress – which doesn’t always translate to the more naturalistic discipline of stand-up – she earned the most rapturous audience response with her discussion of the ‘cultural differences’ between her native Glasgow and new hometown of London. Her vivid anecdotes of nights out and disdain for the teetotal were  relatable and witty, told with impact and flair, with the subject matter underlining her fun, up-for-it persona.

Second place went to Ciara O’Connor, a handy writer of dumb gags and a performer comfortable enough to make a couple of small jibes about this particular gig, high-pressure as it is. After a great opening gambit, the follow-up explaining that she identifies as transexual rather than transgender as it sounds ‘more scandalous’ is a good yardstick for her cheekily provocative style. A joke about the Strava running app was a little obvious, but she spoke for all of us when describing the sinking feeling when a friend shares a JustGiving link.

Third went to Ayo Adenekan, with an assured, calm delivery and few wry gags about his identity. The joke about his dashed dreams of becoming the first black, Scottish, gay Doctor Who doesn’t amount to much, but he holds the audience while he meanders there, a talent that will stand him in good stead as the material improves. 

Irish comic Sophia Wren showed a lot of promise in the opening slot. Asserting that joking about her mental illness was ‘like putting glitter on genital warts’ established the tone for a raunchy, dirty set - although the glimpses into her real life, such as the abject shame of sleeping with a failed actor, were more interesting.  

Laurie Brewster’s downbeat style is certainly attention-grabbing, complaining that he hates doing comedy and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Despite that counterintuitively appealing attitude, he has a decent arsenal of proper jokes, coloured by self-deprecation.

London geezer Bert Broadbent was also self-effacing, with an amusing way of explaining how he hates the gym and how his working-class parents think he’s la-di-da for the slightest of reasons. He coins a word for one of his flatmates that should definitely catch on, and a bit about spotting a couple enjoying a tender kiss involves some nifty misdirection. Although talking about the London Tube map was never going to fly in Scotland.

Fab Goualin was the second gay Nigerian comic on the bill – with a dash of French, too, as if you couldn’t tell from his stylish look. A laid-back and very charismatic presence, his jokes are a bit uneven – an easy lean into the ‘internet scammer’ stereotype and an imitation of nightclub bathroom attendants feeling hack, at least until he offered a Gallic reinterpretation of the latter.

Starting with an eye-opening story of telling her work’s HR department she now uses ‘they’ and ‘she’ as pronouns, Kate Sharp positions herself as a keen, detached observer of heterosexual culture, from lads on tour to straight girls at bottomless brunches. Her subdued delivery meant the material didn’t quite take off as it could, but there’s some good stuff here.

Her muted style was positively electric compared to Paras Patel, whose soporific delivery was underpinned by the gentle strumming of his guitar and a voice so quiet some punchlines about his Indian background and first friend were lost in the breeze. Deadpan’s one thing, but his gags were not strong enough to overcome the sleepy performance.

In contrast Alex Gogarty is completely on top of his delivery of a nicely put-together set, including an extended section crushing on Joan Of Arc, as realised in the Age Of Empires video game. It’s a quirky bit, not the funniest of the night, but indicating he has a nose for idiosyncratic subjects that could develop nicely.
 

Review date: 23 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon Patter House