DVD review by Steve Bennett

For the voice of the next generation, Daniel Sloss sounds remarkably like the voice of the last generation... which means that for all his substantial technical competence it's hard to get too excited by his debut DVD. He is fresh of face, not of material.

Sure, this 21-year-old talks about things young people are supposed to be into – Twilight, trips to Disneyland, masturbation – but oh-so many if his ideas have been heard before. And, indeed can still be heard in clubs up and down the land from jobbing comics who weren’t as lucky as he’s been in his fast-rising career.

For example, he takes on the religious by arguing that if you're going to quote the Bible at him, he's going to quote his own fictional book back – an idea that’s been aired plenty of times before. This is either the naivity of youth believing a thought that’s new to him is an insight the rest of the world missed; or the output of a dedicated student of comedy recycling on the themes he’s osmotically absorbed.

When he gets peeved with vegetarians, for instance, there's no real passion there – it seems like a writing exercise where he's sat down to think of something he could dislike, rather than something he just has to get off his chest. Many of the lines have been heard before, too – except perhaps by the studenty audience he attracts.

Further pedestrian material revolves about the Scottish stereotype, how men are always manipulated by their girlfriends, old people having Alzheimer’s, and the impression you get from checking out someone’s supermarket basket.

Yet Sloss has things in his favour, too. He can spin a good yarn, has an entertaining line in sarcastic disdain, and can boast a few very nice jokes – most notably his mother’s declining excitement as each new child comes along – even on tired motifs. That he appears slightly in awe of the DVD recording endears him too, as does his self-deprecating streak.

Having only been born in the Nineties, Sloss is surely still figuring himself out as a person, let alone a comic, and all these traits will stand him in good stead as his comedy develops. But whether anyone older than his demographic will stick with him as he does so, given a firmly average debut DVD, is a moot point.

But, really, shouldn’t a young comic be more innovative than this? Trying to form comedy in a new way, rather than simple retreading what his predecessors did.

Published: 26 Nov 2012