Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Sameer Katz could be the template of an American stand-up, with a relaxed Californian confidence and a Seinfeld-Lite line in relatable observational comedy. 

So closely does he fit the boilerplate that he even starts with material about airline travel and the difference between cats and dogs – the topics that it’s even hack to say are hack – but has some new things to offer.

However, even when he widens his horizons, he is never truly able to surprise with a bold new take. Routines are robustly constructed and he has impeccable rhythms and reassuring delivery, his material readily identifiable to all. But most of it resides dependably in the ‘pretty amusing’ category, as he plays things very safe.

For example, he never really risks his composed demeanour by committing to an act-out of a fictional scenario. But when he does – such as adopting the tone of a bigshot baby collecting his buggy from the valet – it adds an extra dimension.

But it’s a path he’s reluctant to take too often, sticking to universally relatable material. Describing modern TV viewing habits seems a straightforward account of how we prop up laptops on our beds without comic embellishment. Likewise, we all identify with the chunk about batteries in remote controls, but whether he’s nailing something we hadn’t noticed in ourselves is moot.

Elsewhere, Katz fears he’s going bald, knows he’s getting old because he likes carrot cakes now and struggles with unfamiliar showers – an experience we can all get behind, although making it a metaphor for sex becomes laboured.

He studied at Cambridge for a PhD in economic history, but nicely plays against the idea that makes him smart with some self-deprecating lines – not least because he dropped. That said, he does slip a couple of lines that flatter the intelligence into the set.

It all makes him dependable as a comic, engaging if not hugely exciting.

• Sameer Katz: God Loves Irony is on at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House at 3.30pm until August 29.

Review date: 23 Aug 2021
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Laughing Horse @ The Counting House