Micheal Legge - Prince of Bitterness, Lord of Fury - has his sights on an award. He has secured the 'coveted' noon slot, he has given the show an important message, and he has just returned from his writer's retreat. Unfortunately for him (but fortunately for the audience) this retreat turned out to be the holiday resort of Kavos in Greece, home to under-30s discos, drinking in the street and truly dire hotel rooms.
One of the most refreshing and engaging shows of the Fringe.
All of this and more provides the grist to Legge's explosive mill, prompting tirades of anger and pitch-perfect rants. Better than this, however, is the childish glee with which Legge is able to ruin other people's fun. From emptying nightclubs just by his presence to ruining the chances of young lovers, his mischievous mood-killing is relayed to the audience with delight and disgust in equal measure - a balance that allows the audience to become utterly complicit in his misanthropy.
However, it is not just the general public whom Legge succeeds in disappointing. The overarching theme of the show is the well-worn cliché 'never meet your heroes', or rather, 'never let your heroes meet Michael Legge'. There are tales-a-plenty of less than positive reactions from Legge's encounters with his idols, from a host of mortifying moments with cult legend Robyn Hitchcock, to collecting a complete set of abuse from all three members of R.E.M.
Legge's unstoppable anger should by all rights wear thin over an hour in close proximity, but the passion with which he performs and the honesty with which he presents himself - along with the genuine joy that peppers the piece - combine to form one of the most refreshing and engaging shows of the Fringe. His brand of self-aware hypocrisy and unadulterated animosity may seem an odd choice for such an early slot, but the cathartic nature of the show - coupled with the fact that your stomach will genuinely hurt from laughing - means you will be hard pressed to find a better way to start your day.
