Review by Alex Mason

Neil Delamere provides great material and laughs, with enough heart to warm any crowd.

He opens with a bit about being pulled over on his bike, but only gets about two minutes in before a heckler starts finishing the story for him. Apparently he'd heard it the day before in a short spot, and Delamere wastes no time putting the heckler down with ruthless efficiency. The heckler is blind, but no punches are spared in the takedown with lightning wit and a new running joke for the show.

Next up is some light crowd work, focusing on the easy nationality and cultural differences laughs but nevertheless still winning over a slightly unruly crowd. The original story is eventually finished to an applause, thanks to hilarious twist ending.

Unshaken, Delamere unleashes his top notch material revolving around the theme of some vintage footage of his 16-year-old self taking part in a TV quiz show, Blackboard Jungle, with his school. Material is slotted around the video, discussing his life at that time and the other contestants, as well as what he's learned in the succeeding seventeen years.

It's executed well and structures the set beautifully, with an audience participation section hilariously demonstrating how one-sided a quiz show can be, with Delamere still embittered over his team's early loss.

There's other material in the mix, with jokes about embarrassing sex incidents, losing weight, and a letter correspondence with an angry man who once dared to steal Delamere's parking spot.

The material is relatively safe, but it's delivered by a master with a flair for crowd control and spectacular use of archival video footage to top off an excellent show.

Review date: 27 Aug 2012
Reviewed by: Alex Mason
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard