Eton and Oxford-educated Ivo Graham won the 2009 So You Think You're Funny new act competition, at the age of just 18. He was nominated for best newcomer in the 2010 Chortle Awards and for best show at Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2019. And he was a contestant in the 15th season of Taskmaster in 2023.
Edinburgh Fringe comedy review
Ivo Graham sure knows how to own his poshness. Kicking off this entertaining hour with a smart gag about the circumstances surrounding some of his friends’ simultaneous and sudden job losses sets the tone nicely.
Leaning into it, he then reveals ‘five posh truths’, which include gripes from family members that are as funny as they are unrelatable (to most of us, anyway).
The name of this hour is inspired by the Channel 4 home-building show, and we’re treated to an image of its host, Kevin McCloud’ balking at somebody’s hubris’." We also get to see a man who Graham adores: Gareth Southgate, aka the ‘"patron saint of nice men out of their depth’.
And that, ostensibly, is what this show is about: Graham’s ambitious plans not always going as hoped.
It’s all a fun excuse to tell some rollicking good stories about the stag do he organised for his best pal, fellow comic Alex Kealy. A real stickler for detail (sometimes to the detriment of the content of this hour - we don’t need it to be quite so forensic), he produces a list of his regrets about the plans and execution of his friend’s last hoorah as a single man. The London Review of Books features more here than you might expect.
He use slides to back up his material. One minute you’re looking at a Venn diagram involving Garibaldi; the next he’s spelling out the rules of the Grand Designs drinking game.
One of the plans that goes awry involves him buying tickets to a concert with his family, with his parents’ friends coming instead of his siblings. In a sweet little splash of tenderness, he reveals a desire to share a bonding experience with his dad but, true to the theme of the show, it’s just out of reach.
Graham’s got some cute surprises at the end of this show. Though entertaining, they don’t hold a candle to the delight of his articulate and wit.
Published: 22 Aug 2024
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Book (2025)
Yardsticks For Failure
We do not currently hold contact details for Ivo Graham's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.
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