Material: Delivery: Laughs:     

There was something infinitely charming about the hour of comedy supplied by Henry Churney & John Wilson last night at the brightly modern venue that is The Place. A completely unpretentious affair, these two gentlemen exist in another sphere from the comedians who work the circuits, & so their brand of comedy is different also. For that, this was a very refreshing, almost transcendent, start to this year’s Fringe.

Divided into two halves, first up was John, playing Dickie Dido, ‘plumberer to the stars,‘ who gave us a quite a jolly romp through a world where, ‘Simon Le Bon absolutely decimated an Armitage Shanks.’ As he progressed through his 25 minutes or so, he was revving himself up more & more & my instinct tingled at his ‘babestation’ stuff that I might have just heard the funniest thing of the Fringe, already.

Henry was a different kettle of fish, a bit of an all rounder – sometimes rude, sometimes married, sometimes menopausal. Listening to his polished patter reminded me of being in a jacuzzi, a very pleasant experience, so warm is his spirit, & every now & again the bubbles came on! Henry was a real comedy carousel who has the ability to drop a proper bomb with brute force, & that’s why I enjoyed my time with him, a nice variety of themes & you never knew quite what was coming next.

The boys are only here for three more nights, a wee toe-dip in the hot bath that is the Fringe. But the water is still ‘boiling’, we are a long way from the lukewarm third week, & my honest – tho’ occasional – deep bellows of laughs are genuine proof that this fun & friendly show is very welcome in Edinburgh!

Damian Beeson Bullen

A Jewish Sexagenarian
And a Liverpudlian Plumber
Walk into a bar…

The Place in the Baird

Aug 1-4 (21:15)

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www.cuecomedy.co.uk