Billed as John Lloyd, a man with connections to so many of the great moments from the last thirty years of BBC comedy, introducing some of the more unusual acts on the Fringe. When we saw this last year it lived up to the name and there were some genuine oddities in the line up. It even prompted us to go and see one of those appearing. So this event proved a little disappointing as the acts were all fairly conventional stand ups.
Lloyd, didn't do a lot of the introducing himself, leaving it to his sidekick Dan Schreiber, a QI 'elf'. Which was no problem as Schrieber is an engaging host and funny man in his own right. First out of the four comedians was Lieven Scheire who was mostly unusual for being a Belgian, a rare sight on the Fringe. A very funny man, he promises his act will not only make you laugh, but provide some understanding the Special Relativity - Scheire is a scientist by trade so the show sounded as if could live up to the pledge.
He was followed by Alex Edelman, a Jewish New Yorker who produced the laughs, but is very much in the tradition of Jewish New York comedians. And Nick Kumar, who I really do enjoy, with his brand of political humour. Again, very easy to enjoy, and he hits some good targets, even in a ten minute set. But 'curious'? Not really.
The final comic on stage was Felicity Ward, whose act deals with her own history of physical and mental illness and how that alters her relationship with the world around her. It's brave and personal stand up, and would be an interesting show to see. But, like those above, easy to slot into a recognised genre.
Funny, enjoyable, and I'd happily go again. But I'd looking for a bit more of an oddity to be on show.
This was a one-off event in the BBC Big Blue Tent.
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