Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Paul Merryck sounds like he’s lived an interesting life, or at least one that isn’t often documented on stage. A working-class Essex boy, he’s now in his 60s and feeling the effects of decades’ worth of hard living. 

In some respects he’s a classic bloke: an obsessive fan of football and darts and a committed pub denizen, but he’s also a former raver, staunchly anti-fascist, and drops literary allusions to Boudicca and Bergman.

At the top of his show, Ambulance for One, he seems about to plough us into something confessional, alluding to his failing health, his existential battles with ageing, and how things have been ‘going badly’ for him recently. 

Not that there’s any pressure on him to reveal those things about himself, but it’s an odd way to introduce what turns out to be a selection of vaguely fantastical bawdy stories of the type that used to be traded by smoking comedians in polyester suits at comedy clubs up and down the country.

Before alternative comedy became the new mainstream, this is what used to be the mainstream, and although it’s undeniably old-fashioned and off-trend when compared to what the youth are up to, it still works if you like it.

In fact certain aspects, particularly his politics, ring much truer than when espoused by young middle-class comedians who have never had to live alongside fascists and fight them in the streets.

Not that Merryck lingers much on these topics. He’s got his three disrespectful ex-wives all called Sharon, his three sons all called Gary (‘a gay one, a thick one, and a criminal’) and a bank of shaggy dog stories to tell about French birds who want to try out exotic sexual practices on him. 

It’s broad stuff, no doubt about it; the hit rate is a little low and it feels like a missed opportunity to cover more interesting ground. That said, there’s still wit and a certain twinkle to it all. You could see him going down great in front of a liquored-up comedy club crowd on a Friday night.

Review date: 12 Aug 2025
Reviewed by: Tim Harding