Brighton Fringe review by Steve Bennett

The title of this show comes as David Ephgrave is also in a double act you’ve probably never heard of either. Still it’s probably better than what my suggestion would be: ’45 Minutes Of ‘Meh’.

For although Ephgrave has the confidence and cadence of a decent comic, there’s not much here that’s funny, interesting or passionate enough to be worthy of your time. What might be mildly interesting bits of trivia to his friends – he’s on Google StreetView!, he once took a book to a football match! he used to be in an indie band that were compared unfavourably to Shed Seven! – are regurgitated too directly.

And sadly, his life as a 33-year-old white former drama-student form the Home Counties with only mildly peculiar parents isn’t the rich seam of hilarity he might hope.

For an example, he shows us a poster that greeted him at a gig: ‘We love you David!’ and it’s apparently more sinister flipside: ‘And we know where you live’. This, at best, moderately amusing snippet becomes a ‘so what?’ when you hear the story behind it – the exact opposite of what a comic andecdote is supposed to do. In case you’re wondering - and you shouldn’t – it came from repeat fans of a Buddy Holly tribute bans he’s in, whom he met after one tour date and gave them his address so they could send him photos of the gig. They then turned up next time the musicians were in town with the banner. Long story short - it was someone else’ moderately amusing comment all along.

That’s but one example, and donut’s really need such deconstruction,but too much of …And Ephgrave is very slight stuff, not given enough of a comic spin. There’s a mildly ironic, mildly wry tone to the telling, but that demeanour is so universal you don’t need to be a comedian to have it.

Ephgrave starts this sparsely attended lunchtime gig as Dave Gorman-lite - needless PowerPoint presentation stressing what could generously be called punchlines and flashing up a few images, such an erectile dysfunction ad that he can gently rib. But almost all his jokes ‘first thought’ reflexes that anyone– again, comedian or not – might have, so doesn’t seem particularly worthy of being dressed up in a show, even if they might work as short chunks on a mixed line-up bill.

You want to like him; he seems like a decent chap. But this show doesn’t have much reason to exist – nor enough laughs to distract you from that increasingly obvious fact.

Review date: 11 May 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett