The Urban Survival Guide is a madman’s portrait of modern Britain and accepting the nonsensical way in which society act is key to the enjoyment of the show.
The venue had several Top-Trump-esque Urban Survival Guide cards scattered around; I collected a couple that featured characters such as ‘The Hipster’, ‘The Chav’ and ‘The Middle Class Mum’ and immediately I knew I would enjoy the performance. Tony Marrese himself is outrageous; a man who has yet to let his childhood get away from under him, he is armed with a unique insight into the minds of the dangerous youth of today. Equipped with a wide array of accents, noises, swear words and anecdotes about cats, Marrese did not let up on the laughter until after he had spoken his final words.
There was a large flipchart on the side of the stage that featured a range of topics such as ‘transport’, which were then divided into smaller sub-headings such as ‘Car (Niece Peedo)’. While it clearly provided prompts for Marrese, it didn’t distract from the sketches themselves, although it did leave you wondering what you potentially missed out on.
The Urban Survival Guide is a madman’s portrait of modern Britain and accepting the nonsensical way in which society act is key to the enjoyment of the show. Tony Marrese is without a doubt one of the best live comedians I have seen at the Fringe and I even struggle to think of better live comedians I have seen elsewhere.
