Depression, Swans and Pisser Problems: The Comic Triumph of Gary Little’s “Just About Done” | Mumble Comedy
Skip to content
Mumble Comedy
Surveying International Comedy
Menu
Comedy
Theatre
Music
Festivals
Words
HomeDepression, Swans and Pisser Problems: The Comic Triumph of Gary Little’s “Just About Done”
Depression, Swans and Pisser Problems: The Comic Triumph of Gary Little’s “Just About Done”
August 23, 2022August 23, 2022 yodamo
Fringe 2022
Photo by Jim Dean
Beehive 2 – The AtticAugust 18th – 29th (5:45pm)
Gary Little continues to impress as a performer, and his latest show at the Fringe is no exception. In my opinion, there are a mere handful of Scottish comedians who are as naturally funny as Little, and I always make an effort to make it to his shows at the Fringe. I’ve been a huge fan of his stand-up for years, and have also enjoyed his side projects on Youtube such as “The Glasgow Trip” with fellow comedian Des McLean, a charming wee take off from the BBC’s own comedy programme “The Trip” with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan.
Little’s material for the most part is largely observational, and the material in his new special grounds itself in anecdotes such as his difficulties booking a doctor’s appointment for “his pisser problem” and his attempts to get past a nosey receptionist, a fantastic opening bit for his hour special that really launches the show. This later segues into hilarious stories about burying his friend’s ashes in a lake and encountering a group of hungry swans, dealing with his mate moving into his flat with him, and navigating the absurdities of sex and relationships, before finishing with a raw exploration of his own dealings with depression and death. There were times during his act that tears were streaming down my face from the absurdity and delivery of his stories. Aside from absolutely hilarious, there is something about Little’s ability to craft and weave an audience through his stories that is really significant. His comic timing is impeccable, and he is constantly able to balance his stories with the right amount of comedic detail in his set-ups, punchlines and tags. You end up finishing watching his stand-up wanting a little more, and in a really good way.
As indicated by his special’s name, Little seems to be making peace with a new chapter in his comedy career. Certainly as a long-time admirer of his work, I found this special to be more honest with himself and what he perhaps expects his audiences to appreciate. In the third act of his show, he delves into his struggles with depression, and how he balanced his life in the face of his father’s cancer diagnosis. This portion is still peppered with big laughs however, particularly in how he angrily cuts through the meaningless platitudes offered to him by friends and family in the face of despair. In small instances when Little delivered this specific material, I could feel some of his audience tapering off slightly, but to hold this against him would be unfair, and I don’t think it is a broader expression of any significant weaknesses in this material rather than a need to potentially tighten some of the junctures within this specific portion of his act.
However, as we travelled through Little’s struggles with depression, he delivered a very funny and utterly triumphant conclusion to his show. As many of his fans know, one of his most famous stories as a stand-up is when, in a bid to impress a bunch of young lads out for a night in the town, he takes a bunch of ecstasy and dances like a man possessed at the Arches, a famous (now terminated) Glasgow dance club. It’s easily one of the best pieces of Little’s comedic cache, and one that went viral online.
However, in his latest special, he revives his dancing skills once again, but in a more sobering, rawer conclusion to his own fight with depression. In doing so, Little’s latest piece both pays homage to a comedic bit that helped make him famous, but nonetheless remixes it into a more reflective and developed concoction. It isn’t just incredibly hilarious; it’s honest, and beautiful, and utterly, utterly triumphant in its portrayal of a man conquering the worst of his depression. As a long-time fan, I found it really endearing that he finished his show with this piece, as it was a really sweet and optimistic conclusion to a brilliant hour.
Little’s stories never feel overworked or clichéd; instead, they feel like real celebrations of Glaswegian humour and all that comes with it. And that’s no small feat. I’ve seen hundreds of comics latch onto what they think Glaswegian comedy is all about, and have failed miserably. The idea of Glasgow being a comedian’s graveyard is exaggerated, certainly, but the reason why it is important as a cultural barometer is it reminds of us the qualities that are truly celebrated in Glaswegian humour, and why so many comics fail to meet that bar.
The city’s humour is associated with a guttural, brutal honesty about ourselves or life; an ability to laugh at oneself, and at the absurdity of taking ourselves too seriously; and not being averse to really confront who we are on a corporeal level, an element often delivered in graphic, hilarious detail by Glasgow comics. Glaswegian humour, when done correctly, is in a sense an association, no, a celebration of Scottish life with no airs or pretenses about itself, a kind of celebration of realizing that as a people, we’re a little bit shit, but we’re also really decent at heart, and that good times still lie ahead for this country. Amid it all, there is an optimistic arc in there. Little, like Scott Agnew, or African American comic legend Richard Pryor, delivers that recipe beautifully, and provides a raw, emotional and really beautiful testament to the power of stand-up comedy as a form of social and cultural healing, a kind of comedic chicken soup for the soul.
Little is one of a handful of comedians I think has an incredible, unique ability to create something extremely masterful through comic performance. His latest special left me reeling, not just from laughing so hard, but in proving – once again – his ability to convey and craft a raw, hilarious and emotionally poignant hour-long special with an effortlessness I have rarely seen in stand-up comedy. For me, his latest special once again confirms his uniqueness as a stand-up, and roots him firmly as one of the greatest comedians of modern-day Scotland. I can’t wait to see him again.
Jamie Nixon
Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading…
Related
Post navigation
← Zach Zucker: Spectacular Industry Showcase Lew Fitz – Soft Lad →
2 thoughts on “Depression, Swans and Pisser Problems: The Comic Triumph of Gary Little’s “Just About Done””
Phil says:
August 23, 2022 at 8:25 pm
I have saw him twice this year and about 4 times over all. Never fails to make me leave the venue with tears still streaming down my face with the laughter. Best stand up act about at the moment
Reply
John M. says:
August 26, 2022 at 9:49 pm
Brilliant performer and a geezer with good taste in watches and decoration.
Reply
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Enter your comment here…
Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:
Email (required) (Address never made public)
Name (required)
Website
You are commenting using your WordPress.com account.
( Log Out /
Change )
You are commenting using your Twitter account.
( Log Out /
Change )
You are commenting using your Facebook account.
( Log Out /
Change )
Cancel
Connecting to %s
Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email.
Δ
Search for:
From the Tweenies to the Twenties
Alex Farrow: Philosophy Machines
Rhys Nicholson – Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!
The Tragicomic Brilliance of Jeff Ahern’s Improvisational Satire, Sylus 2024!
Christy Coysh: Bangarang!
Lew Fitz – Soft Lad
Depression, Swans and Pisser Problems: The Comic Triumph of Gary Little’s “Just About Done”
Zach Zucker: Spectacular Industry Showcase
Tony Law: A Now Begin in Again
Lauren Pattison: It Is What It Is
Early Morning Laughs at “An Irish Comedy Showcase”
Helen Bauer: Madam Good Tit
Aliya Kanani: Where You From, From
Matt Forde ‘Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
Sid Singh: Illegally funny
Ignacio Lopez: El Cómico
Tom DeTrinis: I HATE NEW YORK
Simon David: White Gay
Daniel Downie: There’s Something about Mary
Ted Hill: All the Presidents Man
Mel Byron: Standing at the Back
Raul Kohli: Makes it Up as He Goes Along
Starship Improvise
Steve Bennett: Forced to Work
Doctor Kaboom! & the Wheel of Science
Andy Macleod: Anoint My Head – How I Failed to Make it as a Britpop Indie Rockstar
John Lloyd: Do You Know Who I Am?
Crybabies: Bagbeard
Nathan Cassidy: Observational
Paddy Young: Laugh You Rats
Emily Wilson: Fixed
Chelsea Birkby: No More Mr Nice Chelsea
Horseplay Bareback
Life Drawing With a Comedian
Eli Matthewson: Daddy Short legs
Myra Dubois: A Problem Shared.
Jacob Hatton: Relax! (Exclamation Mark)
Sam Nicoresti: Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture
Alasdair Beckett-King: Nevermore
Grant Buse: SentiMental
An Interview with Jacob Hatton
Garrett Millerick: Just Trying to Help
Patrick Spicer: Who’s This All of a Sudden?
BriTANicK
Jake Cornell and Marcia Belsky: Man and Woman
Katie Pritchard: Disco Ball
Hannah Fairweather: Just A Normal Girl Who Enjoys Revenge
Sasha Ellen: Creeps and Geeks
Amber Glancy: Wine Show
Pierre Novellie: Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things?
Fills Monkey: We Will Drum You
Erynn Tett Finds her Audience
Lucy Frederick: My Big Fat Wedding
Kathryn Henson & Ollie Horn: Pure Filth
Will Mars: My Life in One-Liners
Expanding the Mumbleverse 2022
An Interview with Daniel Downie
Danny Deegan @ The Comedy Attic
An Interview With The Vickers Brothers
An Interview with Sam McGowan
Sam and Tim Present: Behind the Fringe
Tom Mayhew: From Rags to Slightly Newer Rags
According To Everyone Else (WIP)
Absolutely Themeless
The Five Percent Fringe
Kate Smurthwaite: The Last Mayor of Fihalhohi
Nathan Cassidy: Bumblebee
An Interview With Nathan Cassidy
The Travesty of Richard III
Dating Samantha Pressdee
Interview: PLUG IN Girls
An Interview with Cat Alvarado
An Interview with Rob Gee
Njambi McGrath: Accidental Coconut
Darius Davies: Persian of Interest
Twonkey’s Ten Year Twitch
Jez Watts: Absolute Zero
Meatball Séance
Bad Boys
Will Rowland: Cocoon
Our 2014 Poster
Steve N Allen: Better Than
An Interview with The Establishment
An Interview with Eli Matthewson
Alex Farrow: Philosophy A-Level
Nathan Cassidy: Observational
Matt Hobs BSc (Bristolian of Science)
An Interview with Hopwood DePree
MTT: Dinner With Comedians
Robyn Perkins: Mating Selection
An Interview with Steve N. Allen
Aaron Twitchen: Can’t Stop a Rainbow
Jack Tucker: Comedy Stand Up Hour
Adam Flood & Blake AJ: Joke Boys
Baba Brinkman’s Rap Guide to Culture
Mark and Haydn: Llaugh
Sunjai Arif: Which Princess Are You?
Will Penswick: Nørdic(k)
Jon Long: Planet-Killing Machine
Naomi Karavani: Dominant
Grandad’s Grandad-Themed Family Reunion
Richard Wright Is Just Happy to be Involved
Byron Bertram: Passport and Prozac
Any Suggestions Doctor? The Improvised Doctor Who Parody
Lolly Jones: I Believe in Merkels
Jeroen Bloemhoff: A List of 100 Things That Unreasonably Annoy Me
Jim Campbell: Beef
Robin Morgan: What a Man, What a Man, What a Man, What a Mighty Good Man (Say It Again Now)
Flora Anderson: Romantic
The Dots
Anesti Danelis: Six Frets Under
Ollie Horn: Pig in Japan
Alasdair Beckett-King: The Interdimensional ABK
Cry Babies: Danger Brigade
Eli Matthewson – An Inconvenient Poof
Harriet Braine: Les Admirables
Erich McElroy: Radical Centrist
Martha McBrier: Happiness Bully
Joe Bor: The Story of Walter & Herbert
AJ Holmes: Yeah, But Not Right Now
Expanding the Mumbleverse
Tania Edwards: Don’t Mention It
Konstantin Kisin: Orwell That Ends Well
Gary G Knightley: Twat Out Of Hell
Black Sheep
Luke Rollason’s Infinite Content
Snack Chat
Oleg Denisov: Russian Troll
Myra Dubois: Dead Funny
An Interview with Erich McElroy
Hurst Schmurst
James Barr: Thirst Trap
Fat Blast and Crackers: 101 Sketches in 50 minutes
Wit & Mirth
Sonia Aste: Made In Spain 2
Joe Jacobs: Grimefulness
Elizabethan
Troy Hawke: Tiles of the Unexpected
An Interview with Scribbling Ape
Privates: A Sperm Odyssey
Langston Kerman: Loose Cannon
The Wonder Jam
An Interview with Black Sheep
Chris Washington: Raconteur
The Establishment: Le Bureau de Strange
Men With Coconuts
Brandi Alexander
A Jewish Sexagenarian and a Liverpudlian Plumber Walk into a Bar…
Louisa Fitzhardinge: Comma Sutra
An Interview with Michelle Aldridge
An Interview with Henry Churney and John Wilson
Follow Mumble Comedy on WordPress.com
Archives
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
November 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2020
November 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
December 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
January 2018
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
October 2016
August 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
November 2015
October 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
August 2013
June 2013
Blog at WordPress.com.
Follow
Following
Mumble Comedy
Join 89 other followers
Sign me up
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Mumble Comedy
Customize
Follow
Following
Sign up
Log in
Copy shortlink
Report this content
View post in Reader
Manage subscriptions
Collapse this bar
Loading Comments…
Write a Comment…
Email (Required)
Name (Required)
Website
%d bloggers like this: