Tony Law: Nonsense Overdrive @ The Stand - Edinburgh Fringe

Nonsense Overdrive, shown at Edinburgh Fringe, is a perfect title for the latest hour of ramshackle daftness from Tony Law, as he pushes his whimsical instincts all the way into outer space. Most impressively though his sense of cosmic adventure provides a disarming framework for an exhilarating range of ideas, often thoroughly relatable and always delivered at hyper-speed.

It's high energy stuff for a lunchtime show but his excitable zeal is infectious, and a delightful intro gets most of the crowd onboard for the ride straight away. While Law generally seems to be without a clear direction there is plenty of craft beneath the chaos, and the subtlety of his points is regularly impressive; his material on the tedium of middle-class life and parenthood is particularly well pointed, as are some wry observations about the lack of spontaneity in stand-up. It is still his madly shifting demeanour that provides many of the laughs though, switching effortlessly between accents and personas at will. His extended Tony Soprano is a particular highlight today.

Few comedians can elevate absurdism to a consistently funny and occasionally insightful level in the way that Law does. Far from nonsense for it's own sake he provides energy, craft and real creativity combined into a seamless whirlwind of hilarity which drags everyone along with it, as well demonstrated by his joyous lap of honour at the end. If only all nonsense made this much sense.

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More on Tony Law at Edinburgh Fringe Festival:

Tony Law: Enter the Timezone at Edinburgh Fringe / Tony Law: Maximum Noonsense at Edinburgh Fringe / Fringe Therapy: Tony Law Interview / Tony Law: Revenge of the Dog of Time at Edinburgh Fringe