Iain Stirling: Touchy Feely

★★
comedy review (edinburgh) | Read in About 2 minutes
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Published 09 Aug 2015
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102793 original

Never mind that it's clearly a routine occurrence tied into a rehearsed ending, coming on stage to loud dubstep music is “the most mental thing [Iain Stirling's] ever done!” The man's bonkers and so, he repeatedly tells us, are the subjects of his show. Vegetarianism, the Scottish independence referendum, teetotallers, microwave ovens, Spain, the appearance of former Labour party leader Ed Miliband, the fact he's able to earn a living from his tepid comedy – all mad!

So crazed is our host's world view that it actually induces vomiting in one unlucky member of tonight's audience. Stirling would have us believe the disruption caused by the incident was to the detriment of his performance. After all, he was only just getting his teeth into what was no doubt a thoughtful, well researched routine on Hinduism. (Something about gods with elephant heads, it sounded fresh and promising.) Instead, he manfully bantered around the event while venue staff infiltrated the crowd to mop up puke.

Lesser comics wouldn't have fared so well in such a situation, and Stirling is to be commended for standing his ground. He twisted the event in his favour and many left impressed by this feat. Still, there's no getting round the fact that a man's involuntary expulsion of bodily fluid was responsible for more laughs than anything the performer's thoroughly dull imagination could offer.