Ian Shaw: A Bit of a Mouthful

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There are some performers at the Fringe who you suspect are not aiming for any great things from their shows, but just looking for a laugh with whoever happens to turn up.

Professional jazz singer and pianist Ian Shaw has put together one such show, which he describes simply as a collection of “naughty songs,” billed modestly as “the perfect end to a festival day.” If you don’t expect more from your comedy than a few pat observations, some mawkish nostalgia, and a bit of camp crudity, perhaps it is.

Shaw is self-deprecating and easy to like. A “practicing homosexual” from Caerphilly in Wales, the 50-something musician-stroke-comic wraps his huge frame around the keyboard with the confidence of a seasoned entertainer, and his booming laugh is enough to cover the few awkward pauses in this first performance. He is a proficient pianist with a decent line in musical parody, including one good James Taylor spoof (refrain: “I’m just gonna sing in this shit nasal voice again.”)

But he also covers a lot of obvious comic ground without much in the way of wit. It’s not funny to remind us that Woolies used to exist or that it used to sell Pick’n’Mix and lawnmowers. We might agree that Trinny and Susannah are annoying, but to tell them they “look like two blokes in a dress” is hardly a satisfying comic sucker punch. And while wee, poo and sex can be gigglesome whatever age you are, at least a little effort has to be put in to the jokes. Shaw’s ambition is modest, his achievement more so.