Iain Stirling: Everything
Everything is a jangly show that never quite seems to start properly. Then again, this doesn't seem too much of a problem. Tonight, watching Iain Stirling is like seeing an MC find that it's all going so swimmingly there's little point bringing on the headliner.
There are 30 minutes where he does his own warm-up, with last year's Edinburgh Fringe set after the interval. That first half-hour is a solid, at times accomplished, club-style session, but when he returns after the break, the actual billed event isn't all that distinguishable from it.
Does it matter? Stirling is certainly in his element at The Stand, taking touching pride recalling that this was the venue of his first gig. The audience are onside throughout, but he perhaps indulges his strengths a little too much – endlessly working the room instead of his material. Maybe there's a slight eagerness to please that he doesn't need.
He attempts to reassure the audience by introducing his show wearily as 'very Edinburgh Fringe'. All he's expressing is that he's a bit more grounded than some of the Fringe's excesses, and doubtless he's right there. But still, it's a slightly odd thing to say given his location. Conversely, cynics would point out that gnawing on a break-up – and a 'political' routine with all the daringness of a take-down of Nigel Farage's chinos – is 'Edinburgh Fringe' for precisely the opposite reasons.
Stirling is much better than that. He manages to pull off some of his five-year relationship break-up humilations by soaring into interesting territory. The need to go into work after an emotional trauma is something we've all had to face, but his obligation to stay upbeat and perky as a kids' TV presenter is on another level and shows flashes of Krusty the Clown [The Simpsons' tragi-comic childrens' entertainer]. He should own his TV appearances a bit more though. Why say, "I do a bit of kids TV" with an embarrassed shrug? Especially when The Dog Ate My Homework is one of the small screen's better comedy panel shows.
Everything, then, is an enjoyable gig rather more than it is a show, and there's nothing wrong with that. Stirling admits that at 27 he isn't that old after all, so there's still plenty of time for us to see that 'very Edinburgh Fringe' show he promised yet.