After the success of his show Black Mediocrity at last year’s Fringe, Ayo Adenekan returns with Homeland Insecurity. This time, he reflects on his first summer romance, which began when he met someone during the Fringe a few years ago while working at the beloved city establishment Oink. He recounts their relationship with humour and warmth, looking back on what at the time seemed like grand romantic gestures, but which ultimately proved unsustainable.
Adenekan has soared to success in the last year, winning comedy awards and securing a writing spot on SNL UK. He gets plenty of laughs from an anecdote about his excitement at meeting someone who shared his name for the first time, only to discover that this person was SNL UK’s Ayoade Bamgboye, who went on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award for “Best Newcomer,” an amusing coincidence, but one delivered with genuine admiration for the fellow comedian.
However, the strongest parts of the show are not necessarily Adenekan’s reflections on romantic love, but his explorations of the other forms of love in his life: his closeness with his mum, his up-and-down relationship with his dad, and his bond with his ‘straight white friends,’ including memorable trips to B&Q.
Another success is the running bit about the comedian’s struggles of returning to the Fringe without the Red Bull sponsorship he had during his first run. His increasingly exaggerated attempts to secure new sponsorship through shameless product placement earn plenty of laughs, while also tapping into the audience’s shared sympathy for the exorbitant cost of Edinburgh in August.
The show was advertised as lasting an hour, but finished at around the 45-minute mark. Combined with a slightly underwhelming ending that lacked the punch of the rest of the performance, this left me feeling more disappointed than the show perhaps deserved.
Overall, Homeland Insecurity highlights Adenekan’s warmth and likeability. He is funny, confident and effortlessly laid-back on stage, and while the central storyline occasionally feels weaker, his charm and charisma carry him through. There is a genuine sense of connection between Adenekan and his audience as he reflects on the many forms that love can take. As the film he himself references reminds us, “love actually is all around”, just not always in the form we expect.
Ayo Adenekan: Homeland Insecurity is running until 30 August at Monkey Barrel Comedy. Buy tickets here.
Image by Matt Stronge, provided to The Student for press use
