Gary Little: A Little Bit of Personal

"Avant-garde is just French for 'shite'". It's fair to say cultural nuances are not to Gary Little's taste. It scarcely matters, though, when he's carved out his own blinkered comedic path and found an audience that loves him for it.

Operating on a level of observational humour that could accurately be described, both in scale and style, as Glaswegian Seinfeld, he plays expertly to the gallery before him. The material is tethered so tightly to his homeland identity that at times it feels a little insular, but he's staunch in his parochial patriotism, and therein lies his appeal. Stubbornness is funny when it's self-aware and good-humoured. 

Notwithstanding his physical stature, he's a powerful and commanding stage presence, which helps sell some of the weaker segments through sheer confidence. Said low points come when he hits all the familiar beats but doesn't really exploit them – he'll walk you through the steps of a joke without really getting anywhere. Too often the premise is simply "I'm fae Glasgow, so...", followed by a universally bland truth that isn't exactly specific to the west of Scotland.

Maybe he is right, and "eccentric is just another word for arsehole", after all. But in narrowing his worldview it feels like he's trying to narrow the variety of his audience members. A Little Bit of Personal will be music to many of their ears, but his everyman style breaks down no barriers.