‘I’ll keep you alive. I need someone to tell the others.’Last year, Nick Helm came to an Edinburgh Festival Fringe that was entirely unprepared for him. One of the more exciting, up-and-coming comedians on the circuit, Nick Helm seesaws wildly between foul-mouthed aggression and charming, gentle vulnerability, sometimes even within the middle of a sentence. In Dare to Dream he swaggers, swears, sweats and sings his way across the stage for an hour. All accompanied by thrash metal, wreathed in smoke and draped in fairy lights.To say that Nick Helm interacts with his audience would be an understatement. People are yelled at, made to dance and sing, manhandled and even kissed. The songs are frequently filthy but undeniably amusing. A song listing reasons for a woman to stay with him was a particular highlight, and some of his poems and letters were as moving as they were entertaining.All of the aggression and vulgarity is easily forgiven by the audience. Nick Helm’s show is ultimately a life-affirming experience, an exhortation to follow your dreams in the face of adversity and is hilarious to boot. Not to be missed.
