Alex Kealy: The Art of the Keal

Alex Kealy has faith in his convictions, but then it's not hard to substantiate his claim that private school bullies made him left-wing. The Art of the Keal is political comedy at its most tactfully apologetic.

In a testement to Britishness he'll surely regret (patriotism isn't really his vibe, the rotten traitor) he eschews the polemicist style employed by most of his contemporaries in favour of muttered grumbling and polite suggestions. It's the nasal neuroses schtick you've probably seen before but packaged with enough endearing wit to pull it through. The familiar topics (Brexit, Trump et al.) all get at least a cursory shout out, if not a measured take-down.

As a nerdy, white, straight, middle-class man doing standup he checks a lot of boxes, but it seems he wants to uncheck a few of them, so burdened by the weight of his own archetype is he. He's creative in his use of logical fallacies in the service of punchlines, and taking artistic licence for the benefit of the satire is a good idea in this context. There are no extra points for cross-partisan converts; the laughs are there and that's what counts. It's not so much righteous ire as it is forlorn musings, presenting his points as a sort of take it or leave it proposal. 

His delivery borders on jittery at times but he's an enjoyable stage presence with shrewd comic chops. Your favourite nephew got a copy of Das Kapital for Christmas and he's come up with some jokes. Fortunately, they're pretty good ones.