Am I imagining this, or is this really happening? Questions like this went through my head constantly as I watched an experienced comedian flounder onstage.
I can comfortably say this was the strangest hour of live comedy I have ever seen. There were no bleak or edgy gags to speak of, and the comedian was not, so far as I could see, playing an outrageous or wacky character. Rather, the show titled ‘Tom Little: The Reliably Funny Comedian You Want To See’ resulted in a complete breakdown of confidence in our comedian, who felt he could not rely on his audience to find him particularly funny.
His first address to us was to reassure us that despite what we might think, he was not nervous, and we shouldn’t feel alarmed for him. He was calm, cool, collected, and completely confident. This was followed up by five minutes of self-conscious rambling about taking a sip of water, and how it made him feel awkward for the room to be silent. Was this a joke? One of many I would come to wait for in the next ten minutes? If it were, his delivery made it impossible to take it as one. Little speaks with frenzied energy, and he can’t help but continually stutter as his mind catches up with his mouth. This makes him difficult to understand and causes many of his jokes to fail.
Because of this, the audience wasn’t exactly raucous. After this prelude, his following material, which argued that Peter Rabbit should have a Cumbrian accent like him, amused but wasn’t guffaw-worthy.
This led to the crisis of the show: Little stopped the show and left, inviting anyone who wasn’t enjoying his set to leave. He was to return after a minute and continue for those who did appreciate his routine. It’s hard to describe this without making Little sound petulant, though it didn’t seem to be done in anger and was more shocking than uncomfortable. Many comedians in this Fringe have emphasised how self-conscious they are, and that throughout the show, they are filled with self-doubt. This evidently was what affected Little, who, to his credit, did return to give the rest of his material without much further ado. However, unfortunately for me, this still failed to impress.
Though galvanised to laugh as the remaining audience collectively was, I’m not convinced his gags were worth the palaver. His best laughs came from his utilising his self-consciousness to poke fun at sex-hunting male comedians. However, his style just precluded his good jokes from being great ones. Rather than rolling with the laughs and building momentum, he again cut in with a sense of embarrassment, making sure we didn’t think he was of that ilk. The set largely continued in this way until the end, which I must confess I was looking forward to.
I left the darkness of Subway and rejoined the bright busy Cowgate, slightly dazed at the whole experience. Whilst this can be written off as a bad day for the comic, I still wouldn’t see him again. However, for those whom a self-described ‘feral rat-boy’ appeals, you may as well give it a go. As part of the free Fringe programme, you’ve got nothing to lose.
Image issued to The Student as press material