Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Paddy Young’s career is going pretty well, what with his best newcomer nomination at last year’s Fringe. Yet he contrives to be the underdog, convinced that everyone in the room is out to sabotage him.

Every audience interaction, let alone heckle - supportive or not – is treated as a personal affront. Exaggerating their impact creates a maelstrom of chaos, with the comedian fighting these perceived slights coming from every angle, getting increasingly close to a breakdown.

 It’s impressive crowd work and plays up the unique here-and-now of the gig, akin to the way Jason Byrne orchestrates the madness in his shows. But the playfulness dances across his expressive eyes with sad, coy or hopeful glances to the audience engendering sympathy.

Young wants the show to go better, just as he wants his life to be better. His status is of someone who’s been on TV just once, given a tantalising glimpse of the forbidden kingdom which makes egotistical monsters out of men, only to be cast back to Earth among the mortals.  

There’s even more of a gap between what he wants and what he gets in terms of his love life. It’s been this way since he was 17 and got his first car – surely a babe-magnet, but not if you’re using it to chauffeur your crush and her boyfriend around.

Vehicles offer a slight throughline, especially now he’s an adult and doesn’t have one (but not before having to go on a speed awareness course). However, feelings of being trapped and unfulfilled desire are the main themes.

Reminiscences of his teenage years emphasise that there is still something adolescent about his attitude today, convinced he’d get the girl if it wasn’t for this, that or the other.  Instead, he’s living in a flat share with another thirtysomething single man, a relationship which often gets peculiar. But maybe that’s a fitting fate for a man who portrays himself as such an outsider even the Warhammer community look down on him.

All this is related with some excellent jokes – a small diversion about XL Bully dogs is gloriously bad taste and his absolute distain for subjects as diverse as Huel-drinking alpha males and the entirety of theatre is a delight.

While he purports to be something of a loser off-stage, on it, he’s a commanding presence, full of energy and verve that sweeps the audience along on the force of his personality for a wildly funny hour.

Review date: 16 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Monkey Barrel Comedy Club