Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Hugely charismatic musical comedian Morgan Jay says his adult content makes this an 8pm show in a lunchtime slot. But there’s something about his languid, soulful style that also suits a more chilled hour. 

The American is an appealingly laid-back performer, strumming lazily on his guitar as he delivers meandering riffs on the room and the Fringeat large between his tracks, and sometimes even during them.  

It’s going to be an hour of songs about love, emotion and sex, he tells us at the outset, Finally! The topics no singer-songwriter has ever had the courage to tackle before.

In that spirit, numbers include Friend Zone, which very much does what you expect, and a trio of songs, not performed chronologically, which start by weighing the freedom of being single against the certainty of settling down, and end with  Home Intruder, about moving in together. 

Between them, What Are We? addresses the ‘DTR’ moment every couple faces, when they have to ‘define the relationship’. It’s a number that ends rather sweetly – at his girlfriend’s insistence – very soon after a cum joke. That probably sums up Jay’s endearing mix of class and crudity, sometimes earnest and thoughtful but quickly undermined and expressed with his gentle, lulling and mellifluous musicality.  

Veering off the love and relationship topic, the song Losing Followers addresses the pitfalls of investing too much of your self-worth in social media feedback. Like so many of us, Jay has a love-hate relationship with the various platforms – though they’ve certainly given his career a boost, having amassed more than 600,000 followers on TikTok. But with 15 years’ experience in comedy – every one of which shows in this polished act – it would be reductive to dub him merely a viral comedian.

Emotional Damage is a litany of his most cringe moments, such as calling a teacher ‘mum’ or realising he was not muted on a Zoom call. These are all generic incidents which rob the song of a personal intimacy that would match his performance – but you can’t deny they are relatable. Speaking of which, amusing lyrics about the reality of sharing a bed with someone definitely strikes a chord in the room.

Between the songs he gently interrogates the crowd about their relationship histories and at one point he leads us in a 'smash or pass' game. That provides some fun, but carefully rationed, audience participation in contrast to the mellow vibe that washes warmly over so much of the rest of his charming hour.

• Morgan Jay: Emotional Damage is on at Underbelly Bristo Square at 1.15pm.

Review date: 18 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Underbelly Bristo Square