Rob Rouse, winner of 'So you think you're funny?' in 1998, returns to Edinburgh with his new show 'My family... and the dog that scared Jesus'. At this Thursday night preview he was playing to a near full capacity crowd at the Pleasance Above. It is easy to see why he was packing them in along with his growing list of tv appearances to pull the punters in, he has an endearing easy going charm and an ability to clown around the stage as if he was born to be there. When he turns on his shiny big grin, you want to be his best friend. Rob's recently been through some life-changing events - the birth of his baby son and the adoption of a 'sexually deviant' dog, and the show takes its theme from these. His musings on pregnancy, birth and the joys of new fatherhood are entertaining, but dont add much to some well travelled ground, and are occasionally a little clichéd. It's in the material about the dog that Rouse really tests his and our comedy limits on. This stuff is not for the faint hearted, with Rob tightrope walking between amusing and disgusting the audience. As you can imagine, a sexually deviant dog can get up to some pretty weird tricks, and he doesn't shy away from playing these out on stage. Material like this, occupying uncomfortable territory between puerile and funny isnt easy pull off, with a constant risk of alienating the audience. For the most part the risk pays off, and the show builds to an ending that neatly illustrates his previous material and has the audience in stitches. Remember, this is the dog scared Jesus, so it is definitely not the show to take your granny to
