Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Michael Spicer has effectively carved a career out of shouting at the TV.

In his Room Next Door videos, he has found success playing an aide feeding answers to politicians being interviewed – but getting increasingly, and very vocally, exasperated at their evasion and stupidity. Calling Boris Johnson ‘a jar of wank’ in a pique of frustration will never not be funny.

Saying what we’re all thinking, Spicer’s breakthrough came when he commentated on the soon-to-be Prime Minister’s rabbit-in-the-headlights interview in which he waffled on unconvincingly about making buses out of old wine boxes. The video is one of several of his greatest hits projected onto the big screen in this live show, which aims to monetise his online fame.

He attempts to make it more than a stage version of what you can watch for free online by speaking about what it’s like to go viral, but inevitably the clips are the best bits. And while the monologues as himself offer a change of pace, there are few jokes and not much insight beyond him sharing that his overnight success came after 20 years.

Spicer hasn’t just targeted politicians and shares some clips of Justin Bieber and Jose Mourinho that don’t appear to be online, as well as some audio manipulations that don’t feature his alter-ego. Plus there’s a skit of him as a Room Next Door forebear interacting with a clearly befuddled (presumably drunk) Winston Churchill in some excellent found footage.

A handful of unmanipulated old clips are amusing with the benefit of hindsight: a strange WH Smith ad, a report of the earliest days of the internet showing what a faff it was to connect, and a baffling Green Cross Code road safety campaign fronted by one-time Doctor Who Jon Pertwee.

The funniest section comes from a meme that regularly does the rounds: a genuine newspaper story headlined The Memories Live On, which is the worst and most bizarre printing error in history. Even if you have seen it, hearing it read out makes it even more hilarious.

Entertaining as this show is, it’s something of an odd beast, based on showing sketches outside the medium they were intended for. But you can see why Spicer wants to capitalise on his virtual success – and given the laughs he brought during lockdown, few would deny him that.

• Michael Spicer: The Room Next Door is at Assembly George Square at 3.40pm.

Review date: 24 Aug 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett