Andrew Bird's Village Fete

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Andrew Bird's show about the foibles of English rural life mirrors his subject matter very well: not a whole lot happens and there are no great surprises, but it's quaintly pleasant nonetheless.  

Having been born and raised in a Northamptonshire village before moving to London to seek a living and then returning to the country to raise a family, Bird is well placed to use the same eye for the humour in the mundanities of everyday life that he demonstrated in his previous shows. This time around, though, Bird seems slightly lacking in imagination: he milks a few laughs from reading his newsless local newsletter and contrasts his "world tour" of Northamptonshire village halls with the stadium tours of his better-known colleagues, but they ride almost entirely on the fact that not very much happens in the countryside compared to the cities that most of audience come from. Amusing at times, yes – but hardly something that The Vicar of Dibley, The Last of the Summer Wine and whole host of others didn't get to years before.

That said, his subject matter and his gentle, easy, inoffensive demeanour make for a reassuringly and enjoyably old school show. Bird is an everyman, but one far more likeable and engaging than Al Murray's Pub Landlord and as a result, his warm, rose-tinted look at growing up—delivered in his trademark man-in-the-street style—strikes a chord in the audience, even if it isn't the funniest and most original hour of comedy on offer at the Fringe this year.