In the morass of shows on in Edinburgh right now it helps to have a USP, and Persson is, probably, the only Swedish stand-up performing at this year's Fringe. Fortunately there's more to him than his nationality and he has a very funny, and at times thought provoking, act for anyone coming out of curiosity.
Sweden has attained a reputation for being one of the best and most enlightened societies in the world, but Tobias, who's as egalitarian and liberal as most of his peers, is here to let us know that not all is as well as it once was, and there are cracks appearing in the glittering appearance. He caricatures his own countrymen as indecisive and unwilling to act - it's often easier to relabel a problem rather than tackle it - and he fears for the future his children will face. It's a controversial view at home, where he finds himself under fire from the very left he feels himself a part of, and it does raise questions about how we handle similar issues here.
Persson has an engaging manner, and dealt well with a drunken heckler (who soon left), and has a fondness for demonstrating his ability to deliver pretty awful puns in his adopted language. But when in full flow it's best to pay attention, with a lot of the best laughs coming from little throwaways lying within the central flow of his thinking. There's more to his words than meets the eye.
Forget his origins and take Persson at face value - a respectably funny stand-up who has some interesting thoughts about European society to offer.
Tobuas Persson : Sweden Sour is on in the new Town Theatre at 17.30 until 27 August.
No comments:
Post a Comment