Ed Gamble is a man who plays by the rules – his rules, which he probably has laminated and stuck up somewhere around the house. Justifying his straight-laced respect for order, Gamble plays up his more pedantic tendencies and delivers a warm and witty set built around his love for law and his ability to steer clear of rebels.
He's a comedian who's very easy to agree with, even if he is playing up a character who's a bit of a smug git.
The show begins on some material about Gamble moving in with his 'laid-back' girlfriend. Flatmate disputes and significant others, no matter how funny, have unfortunately become a bit rote in stand up comedy. However, Gamble uses this more everyday home-based topic as a gateway into less relatable but ultimately funnier material. As the scenarios become less real-world, Gamble really revels in his lawman attitude. The callbacks are neatly constructed and placed at just the right points in the set, landing brilliantly every time.
The segments of the show vary from the mundane to the slightly weirder experiences (including a less lawful moment at a music festival). Gamble's small jibe at more "arty" comedians is a nice touch, and his cop film pitch was hilarious. It lasted for just long enough for the joke to keep its momentum and the punch lines weren't spread across too long a period. That's part of what makes Gamble such a great comedian to watch at work: he has the timing and structure of the set down pat and can do it so effortlessly it seems like second nature to him.
The show is overall very tight. It could do with getting down to the jokes a bit quicker, but Gamble's decision to ease into the set with audience interaction and some more casual patter works well for him. He's a comedian who's very easy to agree with, even if he is playing up a character who's a bit of a smug git. It works to his strengths and there's no rule against that.
