Ben Verth: Alsatian and Chips

The all new Scottish Comedy Festival in The Beehive Inn is almost certainly what the Edinburgh Fringe is all about. A few cosy rooms upstairs in a pub more often than not filled to the brim with punters eager and willing to be entertained by some of the sharpest Scottish comedians in the land. It’s a healthy and receptive crowd that files into the top floor of the Beehive for the SCF’s organiser Ben Verth’s show, Alsatian and Chips. He has a warm and confident stage presence with well written gags and promises “a positive hour”; a promise he keeps.

Verth – who turned 28 in June - is coming to terms with a quarter life crisis, and rather than celebrate his birthday he has decided to celebrate his own milestone, his 1000 day anniversary. With a multimedia performance replete with photos and graphs, he calculates and looks back upon the milestone days (1000 – 10,000), reminiscing about what took place on these anniversaries. It’s a brilliant idea but the material suffers from a lack of depth, with Verth deconstructing other Fringe show ideas rather than focusing on the task at hand. However when he is focused he’s a terrific and impassioned storyteller with whom you’ll gladly spend your tea time.