With the inevitability of night following day and misadventure following Sunak, Edinburgh Previews come around again, as plucky comedians start girding their loins for the Greatest Show on Earth (well, the Greatest Show north of the border). A quick check of the Edinburgh Fringe website reveals over 1,350 comedy shows taking place there this summer, so it’s only right and proper that the Comedy Crate should bring some of them to our attention. And the first of these shows we were able to catch this year took place in the dignified surroundings of the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.
Gareth Mutch and Tom Stade shared a preview night last year, so they clearly go together like Cheese and Onion. First up was Gareth Mutch, with a preview of his Edinburgh show for this year, Modern Man. Not sure what you think of when you think of “modern man”, but I think of a man with a progressive outlook, a firm feminist and not afraid to show his feelings. Gareth has followed the advice of some expert who described it as someone who “struggles with modern life”. Not sure I quite believe that.
No matter. Gareth has a hugely engaging stage persona; he’s a big chap with a bit of a gruff exterior but within a few seconds of seeing his act you realise he’s a true softy inside. He has some excellent material where he beautifully demonstrates his Beta Male qualities, with his inability to fix a boiler – he can’t even come to terms with the fact he has an airing cupboard. He also has a brilliant routine where he challenges audience members to decide what’s best: falling in love or being married? If you’re concerned about offending your other half with your reply, he has a very funny test to help you decide the right answer.
A preview show is precisely that; as Gareth said in his introduction, there may hopefully be parts of the show where the comedy soars, and there will doubtless be parts where it falls flat on it’s a*se. He started a sequence which involved a very dubious reference to shall we say a difficult subject – and it was met with stony – nay, shocked – silence from the crowd. Wisely, he decided instantly to drop it. Because Gareth comes across as such a likeable guy, suddenly to confront us with a very challenging and tough-to-find-humour-in subject was like a slap in the face. But a Preview Show is a learning curve – that’s what it’s all about. There’s definitely plenty to look forward to in Modern Man, and Gareth’s stage confidence and delivery skills are a sheer delight to witness. He’s on at The Stand Comedy Club 2 at 18:50 every night from July 31 – Aug 25 except August 12th, and you can book tickets here.
After the interval we were treated to the whirlwind of comedy dynamite (yes, I know that’s a mixed metaphor) that is Tom Stade, with a Preview of his new Edinburgh show, Risky Business. An hour spent in the company of Tom Stade is a rollercoaster of a white knuckle ride, and you genuinely can’t guess in which direction he’ll go next. We started off in fairly familiar Stade territory with an assessment of the average ages of audience members, and how language can (does) mean different things to different age groups. He has some great material about how the prevalence of computers in the lives of the twenty-somethings and younger is so ingrown that it can lead to severe misunderstandings, and, if you’re as mischievous as Mr Stade, can become delightful weapons in the war of comedy.
I loved his observations about modern travel, and how travel agents are redundant if you know someone young enough to work their way around a computer; and how his perfect holiday must include a waterpark. Another observation that rang true is how there’s only one thing that Mr and Mrs Stade want to go when they go to bed – scroll. And he has a brilliant slant on that old favourite, Mr Potato Head. Trying to review or even encapsulate much of what passes in a Tom Stade set is an impossible task because all his nuggets – big or small – just wash over you and you simply can’t keep track of what he says. You only hope that he can! You always feel that there’s an element of danger in what might happen on stage when he’s on; it gives an intangible edge to the whole proceedings. Wonderfully funny as always; even though this show was still at the let’s chuck ideas in the air and see where they land stage, you just know his new Edinburgh show will be a winner. You can catch Tom at The Stand Comedy Club 1 at 20:15 every night from July 31 – Aug 25 except August 12th, and you can book tickets here.
Many more Edinburgh Previews to come: our next date is to see Scott Bennett and Sara Barron at the Lamplighter on July 8th.