Jeff Kreisler 08

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Political satire doesn’t often travel too well, even when it comes from so familiar a country as the U.S. Anyone who’s watched Jon Stewart’s Daily Show will know that there are still a surprising number of references, prejudices and assumptions that we don’t quite get. A satirist who attempts to import their comedy wares wholesale from across the pond is either very good, slightly foolhardy, or a teensy bit arrogant.

It’s only Jeff Kreisler’s first night performing in the small hotel conference room that is Stand IV, so it would be unfair to say which of these adjectives describes him best. Certainly, his comedy is fluent and accomplished, delivered with energy and enthusiasm. His liberal politics are nuanced in a way that allows him to avoid most of the usual clichés. He describes Bush as an idiot savant rather than simply an idiot, and he gives the most mindlessly naïve strain of Obamania the short shrift it deserves.

The bizarre metaphors and unlikely collisions of ideas that Kreisler uses to inject humour into his points can be amusing, even if the act does sometimes feel like comedy-by-numbers. But the main problem is that he just doesn’t seem that interested in engaging with his European audience. He’s made no attempt to adapt his entirely U.S.-centric material, seeming to assume that we’ll be fascinated regardless. It’s always great when an international act decides to grace Edinburgh with their presence for a month, but in Kreisler’s case, you rather wonder why he’s bothered.