Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

In a hard-hitting volley of edgy jokes, Geoffrey Asmus brings all the aggressive assholery associated with American conservatives to bear on material that comes from a liberal point of view. 

Not too liberal, however, as he flirts with verboten  language and expresses many a foul view and horrible-but-hilarious joke in the name of irony. But snowflakes who might want to take umbrage are put in their place firmly: ‘If you take this joke seriously you’re too stupid to be alive.’

His robust delivery was challenged from the start with a couple of leftfield heckles, including one man who bounced out of his front row seat to profess his love for Glasgow rockers Mogwai (no one had asked) and repeatedly tried to get into the spotlight to say, god-knows-what. Swiftly dealt with, the incident set a mood of coarse chaos that gave the hour extra edge. 

Not that Asmus needed belligerence from the audience as he’d brought plenty of his own.

He’s immediately on the attack, affecting a little-girl voice to mock the UK for still ‘bwelieving  in pwinces and pwincesses’, with a playfulness not all his assaults make so explicit. And no target is in the crosshairs more than the rampant ignorance that so many of his US countrymen wear as a badge of pride.

Asmus likes to see himself as a Trojan Horse, smuggling progressive thoughts past the walls of Roganosphere echo chambers within the alpha-male comedy he built. That might not always be apparent from the gags, which are all about crossing the line, no matter from which direction, but he avoids the most-flogged whipping boys that his reactionary brethren are so quick to batter.

He knows the lie of the land, coming from a family of right-wing Minnesotans, and now he’s taking on the loud but ignorant at their own game. 

Asmus will pick from the usual basket of taboo topics but his approach and punchlines are unpredictable, with smart ideas coated in the profane – or, in his words: ‘That joke works if you know what books and pussy are.’ It’s self-congratulatory, sure, but the writing is more than funny and forthright enough to fuel his brash persona.

Review date: 24 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Monkey Barrel Comedy Club