Andrew Watts: Feminism for Chaps @ The Counting House

There are many feminists, and Andrew Watts is one of them. He looks like a member of John Major’s cabinet reluctantly sent to address a feminist conference, albeit a conference held in a room where half of the chairs are clapped-out sofas and there is no escape in the event of a fire.

And the room really is packed with feminists, so when Watts kicks off by telling such an openly misogynistic joke it looks like it could be 60-minutes of car crash standup. He’s cleverer than that though, and jumps off into a long story of how age and fatherhood suddenly made him into an unabashed fan of the movement.

This isn’t the kind of sanctimonious observation served up by a lot of comics, mind, and Watts doesn’t engage in any of the holier-than-thou digs at the government. Even UKIP only get a tiny mention. Instead he is rather uncomfortable about the whole thing, railing against how supposed fourth wave Twitter feminism has just become a means for a lot of people to feel good about themselves without doing anything.

He complains about the decadence and getting his shoes wet in the jacuzzi at a feminist swingers party. He boasts about making mild love to his wife so as not to oppress her. You can just imagine him standing awkwardly in the corner on the cheap carpets of an inner suburban hotel, waiting to get home and put the kids to bed. 

Part confession of a man finding his way, part indictment of the individualistic female liberation of the Girls generation, this is some of the best free advice you’ll get in Edinburgh. The jokes are pretty good too. [Dom Hinde]