It is safe to say that MC Hammersmith has been on my Fringe radar for a while now, after laughing over short-form clips of his stand-up shows which persistently show on my Instagram reels page. If you’ve never heard of the West London freestyle “gangster” rapper, then I have to assume you were born yesterday (unlike Hammersmith himself, who just turned 19 years old).
With more than five hundred million views online, and known for his unforgettable appearance on BetaSquad’s YouTube, MC Hammersmith brings his show Ice Ice Nepo Baby to Fringe — the improvised comedy show illustrating how he very much deserves the hype all over social media.
I should mention that I was quite apprehensive at first, with a main worry that the entire show will be completed in autotune, and that it will be akin to watching the short form trending clips but on repeat for an hour. However, I was greatly proven wrong, as by the end, I could only end up wishing that Hammersmith’s show could have lasted longer. The amount of belly laughs and shrieks of laughter from the sold-out crowd could have blown the roof off the venue. The vibes in the room, created by Hammersmith, were incredibly electric, and there was never a lull in between the side-splitting comedy segments.
The main premise of Hammersmith’s show consists of the “gangster rapper” discovering that his famous rapper dads (MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice) had adopted him, as he then tries to find his biological family who had left him on the footsteps of Assembly Studios’ Studio Three. “The greatest rapper in history” embarks on this quest, alongside his servant Murphy and three back-up dancing birds, by improvising raps based on audience suggestions. The quick-paced segments include having a Zoom-meeting with his godfather Snoop Dogg, his famous auto-tuned audience interaction with the front row asking “What’s your name?” (“…classic name!”), and the “dorkiest thing you’ll ever see in the Fringe”: a Boggle improvised rap.
MC Hammersmith: Ice Ice Nepo Baby is equally a great example of how rapid-fire comedy should be achieved, and also how one should react to social media fame: by refining your unique craft and growing with what makes you passionate (in this case, improvisational “gangster rap”).
With his simple set-up on stage demonstrating how the true talent is Hammersmith himself, who only relies on the small laptop layout on stage for his beats, the production deserves all the stars and more. Ultimately, it would be hard not to come out of his show not being highly impressed by his smooth performance.
MC Hammersmith: Ice Ice Nepo Baby is running until 30 August at Studio Three at Assembly George Square Studios. Buy tickets here.
Image by David Wilkinson.
