Social media star Paul Black returns to the Fringe this year with his new stand-up show, Nostalgia, a look back into his childhood as a gay wee boy growing up in Glasgow as the son of a preacher.
A millennial gay version of Kevin Bridges, utterly funny but in a modern way
Black’s humour is typical dry Glasgow humour, hilarious and a bit cynical. Everything he talks about in this show is recognisable and relatable for anyone from the West of Scotland.
Black shares his love of neds (or bams), jokingly referring to them as those who keep order in society. Yet he also fears them. As a self-proclaimed hater, Black is a fan of the non-educated delinquent who join him in hating such as the middle class and, very specifically, silent disco participants.
Black also talks about Scots on holiday (I recognise myself in the reference) and how we don’t take in the culture at all. He talks about his experience in Benidorm too, describing the kids at the pool, the dads gorging on the all-inclusive food, and evokes bad sun burns that are easy to picture.
Black also describes doing crash diets all his life even in his childhood, joking that he had to look good for the Primary Six Blair Drummond school trip. Here he takes a serious topic and lightens up the mood around it, making it comfortable for the audience to laugh at.
Even though Black experienced these body image issues, he is still evidently a wee firecracker, participating in his father's anti-sectarian sermons as a ‘co-star’ and thinking that he was outshining his brother and father (a wee prima-donna if I’ve ever heard of one).
Black comes off as confident and at ease on stage with great story telling ability, and he has come far from making comedy videos on YouTube and TikTok.
Paul Black comes across as a millennial gay version of Kevin Bridges, utterly funny but in a modern way.
