Teenage Kicks is Daniel Sloss's debut full length Edinburgh Festival show and as one of the youngest-ever finalists in So You Think You're Funny, there's quite a bit of anticipation surrounding it. In his opening section, Sloss describes how he often emerges onto the stage at gigs to be met with disappointment when the audience realise a child is in front of them. Thankfully, no disappointment is necessary. With his big smile and cheeky-chappy persona, he is instantly watchable and very funny. He is fully aware of people's perceptions towards him and happily accepts this, choosing more to tease them and delight in the fact that he is one of the few people working that has no knowledge of Starburst as Opal Fruits. Sloss thoroughly embraces his adolescence, his part in the lazy generation and his Fife upbringing , and twists these into some magnificent material. Rather than being all wide-eyed and innocent, he does have a certain cynicism about him which only serves to add to his comedy. His timing is very good and his phrasing is particularly witty, with one description including the phrase, It was like his penis was a compass and I was north. The last section of the show contains a deliciously funny extended joke that keeps going and going, and suitably builds the show to a climax. Whilst there is much to applaud, the material does have slightly limited parameters. Whilst two-thirds of the audience were kept in raptures throughout, the remaining third seemed to grow a little tired of yet another adolescent story. I was being quite happily entertained still but it did make me wonder where Sloss will go next. His youth has no bearing on his delivery, timing or natural comic ability, but it does perhaps place some limitations on his material. An attempt to banter with the crowd also proved a little unsuccessful, and Sloss definitely seemed less confident in this area.It will be very interesting to see how Sloss deals with his equivalent of the difficult second album next year. Right now, however, his progress is shining.
