Will Duggan is an angry man and it’s not entirely clear why. By his own admission he’s having a fine time of it as a straight, white, middle-class man in a country where being those things give you advantages over others. Still, he’s pretty damn angry and this show see him vent his irritation over an often very funny hour of stand-up comedy.
a fairly consistent stream of opprobrium aimed at doctors, a selection of waterfowl, and his dad’s wind-ups
Given those advantages, Duggan has to be creative with the things that raise his ire. The result is a fairly consistent stream of opprobrium aimed at doctors, a selection of waterfowl, and his dad’s wind-ups. These targets are explored as he explains the moments and episodes of his life that shaped him into the comedian you see before you.
The material is strongest in the first half of the show when the jokes and observations draw big laughs from the onlookers, and a revelation about Duggan’s own experience with doctors reveals some deeply personal but really funny gags. Things slow down for a bit after that and a few sections, including an observation on people’s willingness to forgive artists’ awful behaviour if they are any good, are spot on but fail to raise the laughs that they might deserve.
This could be down to audience fatigue – the delivery of Duggan’s complaints rarely deviates from the same disgruntled tone – or perhaps an unexpectedly affectionate hug from a particularly hairy man on the night of this performance took the sting out of the comedian’s annoyance.
Either way, even when he’s not hilarious Duggan remains good company and he pulls things round by the end of the show, providing a particularly strong foot-tapping finale. He is a likeable comedian with entertaining insights and the ability to draw a lot of laughs in his little corner of the Fringe. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would grudge paying the price of a ticket to his enjoyable show.
