Stuart Goldsmith is becoming a consistent Fringe must-see; he is understated and refreshing compared with the barrage of male Fringe comics whining on about their girlfriends and mates in a hyperbolic way. Goldsmith has a self-assured and intelligent show which is brilliantly paced. This show will make you laugh at your own expense, at his expense, and will find you resonating with material you wish that you couldn’t appreciate. This show promises to make you a worse person, yet really, you will just become aware that this person has been lurking within you the whole time.
Goldsmith’s material is well balanced between the familiar and the controversial. He is not afraid to tackle lesbianism or pornography, but comes at the topics with a razor sharp insight. It doesn’t feel as if he is exploiting topics for the necessity of material, it seems that he has something different to say, which he does with eloquence and a seemingly genuine passion.
He has a self-deprecating delivery and takes himself down a peg or two, claiming he wants to feel as if everyone likes him and therefore is a little needy. By doing this, the audience are ready to take the dark musings on human nature Goldsmith goes on to provide. He skilfully brings us all down to the same murky level where we use disabled toilets, ignore the outstretched hands of the homeless and forget other people’s names. He works the crowd with charm to the extent that at one point he had everyone considering the prospect of group sex.
This year’s material is more radical than in his previous shows, yet there is nothing different enough in this show to render it as, ‘only Stuart Goldsmith could have done that.’ Although he is more competent than his counterparts, this show still works more on the merits of its quality rather than its originality and this is really the only thing to prevent it from being absolutely excellent.
You will feel safe in Goldsmith’s hands; he works the crowd to perfection and will provide belly laugh after guffaw after laughing snort. A dark and honest show about our flaws and downfalls, even though this show hardly has a single one.
