Review by Steve Bennett

By fully immersing himself in the character of a bling-laden Harlem pimp, Zeron Gibson is hardly doing much to challenge any negative black stereotypes.

But then that's hardly the point. What the Shaft-like Flyguy persona does is provide him with the chance to affect a powerful American style of stand-up, heavy on attitude and reinforced with a convincing, hard-sell oratory.

It's a devastatingly effective delivery that quickly has an audience at his command, ensuring hearty laughs greet his every observation.

When it comes to material, however, he doesn't set the bar particularly high; not shying away from hoary old subjects like airline check-ins or how men like sex doggy-style so they can rest their beer on her back.

His zero-tolerance set, bitching about all that's wrong with Britain as considered from the eyes of an outsider, even a phoney one, is not without its good lines. But it also repeatedly heads for the lowest common denominator, which will disappoint anyone expecting anything special.

Yet the one thing you can say about such easy, give-em-what-they want, comedy is that it goes down unfailingly well, especially when sold with the sort of confidence and slickness Gibson undisputedly brings to the Flyguy character.

Guaranteed, then, to go down a storm – it's just that how he achieves it doesn't bear up to much critical scrutiny.

Review date: 1 May 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett