Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Killing My Dog For Satan is not your ordinary folk song… but then David Eagle is not your ordinary folk singer.

In his secondary job as a comedian, he’s a rowdily mischievous presence, cheeky in an Eric Morecambe kind of way, albeit from the other side of the Pennines and with a bit more blue in his material. 

The Yorkshireman cheerfully admits he’s not going to be paradigm-shifting or avant-garde, instead he’s just a happy-go-lucky bloke having a lot of fun. He’s not above a few cheesy gags that have the audience responding with a hearty ‘wa-hey!’ or old references like video game players fiddling with their joysticks, just cos it sounds a bit rude.

Sticking with old-school sensibilities, Eagle channels the spirit of George Formby to rewrite When I’m Cleaning Windows to be about the Microsoft operating system and the sort of saucy content to be found online. No doubt innuendo king Formby would have approved, though this song does go on a bit. 

Elsewhere, Eagle shares some of the funny things that have happened to him because of his blindness, the most memorable of which involved using his accordion to try to get home in the dead of night when his Uber dropped him off at the wrong address. It’s vividly told and the comic does’t come off especially well, which is entirely in line with his breezily self-deprecating tone.

That opening pet-slaying song sets up a running gag for the hour about his alleged dark side, though it’s hard to believe he has one, given his ebullient delivery of routines that range from contrasting British and American faith healers to a surreal bit about pigeons. And he loves a football chant, whether from the terraces of his beloved Hartlepool FC or what he imagines Buddhists might want to holler.

His knack for storytelling, whether factual or not, extends to some weird interactions in Australia and coming up with an imaginative fictional version of how he lost his sight, given the truth is too serious a response to people’s queries. It’s the only fleeting moment of the show that has pathos, for the rest of the hour is all rambunctious silly fun. And there were extra laughs tonight as Eagle’s old English Teacher was in the room, becoming an additional in-joke.

Comedy might be second to Eagle’s folk singing career, but surely not for long.

Review date: 25 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Just the Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire