Compered by Brighton’s Dave Thompson in his mighty velvet suit, The Late Show gave Fringe goers an opportunity to shelter from the crowded bars and fast food stalls in order to enjoy three top comedians.
The opening act was Stuart Goldsmith. His self-defeating brand of comedy and concentration on awkward sexual situations failed to flow with the audience. His personality seemed disjointed from his script. The climax of his script was a joke surrounding a terrorist bombing of an aeroplane. This has been done before and done better. Perhaps some re-arrangement of topics would help this budding comedy writer go further.
Goldsmith was followed by Northern Irish comedian Michael Legge, who comes across as a bitter middle aged man, scathing young people and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in general. His mockery is funny and had the most cynical members of the audience applaud him for his brutal honesty.
The final comedian of the night was London’s Paul Chowdhry, whose performance justifies why he was the headline comedian of the evening. Having appeared on Channel 4 and performed at the O2 Arena in London this year, he is no stranger to the stage. Chowdhry was unafraid to raise taboos of race and mock society’s judgments of ethnic minorities.
Another defining feature of his performance was his engagement with members of the audience, which was daring and offensive. This behaviour is something he seems to revel in. However, the audience were won over by his deadpan humour; surprisingly, he’s charming enough to get away with it.
Overall, a diversity of performances with moments of brilliance and an excellent compere make for a worthwhile evening.
