Review by Marissa Burgess

This is Chris McCausland’s third run in Edinburgh and one that isn’t going to concerned with him being probably the only blind stand-up in the country, he’s done all of that before.

Instead he gets it out of the way with a quip about how the whole of the audience could up and leave and he’d be none the wiser, then gets on with his show.

7 Strikes is woven around the story of Roy Sullivan, a man so unlucky, or so phenomenally chosen (depending on which way you look at it) to be struck by lightning seven times in his life. Between telling this tale and revealing the injuries he sustained, McCausland includes material about the eventful nature of life. The crafty device enables McCausland to write about pretty much anything.

In goes the story of the woman with her hair trapped in the door on the Tube, the potential perils of shopping online with Tesco and a warning for anyone thinking of trying to light a cigarette on a George Forman grill.

The lead in to some of these stories is a touch contrived. It’s easy to forget where he was going with the overall narrative, but for the copy of the Guinness Book of Records on a music stand.

The show serves to present us with an hour of gently amusing humour, where the gags keep on coming regardless of their inconsistent theme. His experience on the circuit shows in his assured performance and the show concludes on an unexpectedly poignant note.

Review date: 28 Aug 2009
Reviewed by: Marissa Burgess