Burly Glaswegian stand-up Scott Agnew has for many years joked about “blow-job knee”—wear and tear arising from too much time on his knees providing oral sex. Following a somewhat frustrating experience while in Leeds—the details of which are best heard in his own gruff voice—it’s now happened for real. Hence tonight this self-described “36 year-old poofter” is a sitting-down-on-a-stool kind of stand-up.
It’s the “dirty stuff” that Agnew does so well.
Last year, during his excellent Fringe show (and in an interview published by Scottish newspaper the Daily Record), Agnew “came out”. Not as being gay; that’s been part of his routine for years. No, this time he was letting the world know he was HIV positive. Thanks to the appropriate medical support—essentially one tablet a day for the rest of his life—his viral load is now “undetectable”, which he accepts is an odd word to associate with a man who’s 6 foot 5 inches tall. Here’s another; he says it’s the best thing that happened to him.
Much of this show is essentially Agnew attempting to explain why, which, at the risk of “spoilers”, is essentially down to a fairly strict Catholic upbringing which gifted him deep reserves of self-loathing and self-hate that were only partially muted through using drugs and sex. Being diagnosed with a life-threatening condition apparently made him suddenly realise how much he wanted to live, and to do comedy. All of which is a win-win for us to, as he sidetracks into stories of some of his “stranger” sexual experiences. It’s the “dirty stuff” that Agnew does so well.
Agnew is very good with an audience, even the slightly-rowdy, “cocky” male crowd likely to turn up on the first Saturday of the Fringe. Nevertheless, he keeps total control of the room, misbehaviour in the front row mocked and mined for more laughs. And, of course, if in doubt, he threatens—ever so “nicely”—to shag the offender. That usually shuts them up or, well… who knows? A win-win for Agnew either way.
