Douglas Walker @ Underbelly Bristo Square

Douglas Walker’s show is an ambitious blend of comedy and theatre which seeks to reinvent the legend of Christmas in a rather more disturbing light. A host of characters, familiar and otherwise, are played seamlessly by Walker himself armed only with a jacket and an armchair. It’s an inspired idea and a high-quality piece of writing. Walker himself is an energetic and engaging performer and although we get off to a somewhat slower start than a stand-up audience may be used to, the laughs are fairly consistent and genuinely felt through the second half. Furthermore, the alternative history Walker has created becomes disturbingly plausible.

This is a bold effort and one that pays off on the whole but sits uneasily between art-forms rather than finding its way around the genre maze of the Fringe. Nevertheless, it is a clever, warm and original work. 

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Douglas Walker Presents: Of Christmas Past, Underbelly Bristo Square (Clover), 1-26 Aug (not 13), 10:50pm, £6.50-11

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