Michael Che: Cartoon Violence

America’s comedy fraternity is very excited about Michael Che and on tonight’s evidence it’s not hard to see why. The nonchalant New Yorker clearly has a natural gift for standup, his slow and measured delivery helping to squeeze almost every ounce of potential from this promising debut set.  

Having grown up in the projects of New York’s Lower East Side, Che roots much of his material in his own social observation. But there’s a droll knowingness to this commentary and a wry postmodern understanding of the space that exists between the personal and the political. ‘Apparently we owe China 10 trillion dollars,’ he drawls early on, before raising an eyebrow – ‘We?’.

There are also some weighty, uncomfortable topics here—about ethnic caricaturing, homophobia and urban poverty—but in truth Che doesn’t linger on anything for long and instead rattles through a multitude of disparate topics. Largely this scattergun approach works, with Che’s charm papering over any awkward transitions, and frequent to-and-fros with an adoring audience keep the room’s energy from dipping. Yet for all his technical skill, Cartoon Violence doesn’t give us a totally coherent sense of Che’s comic voice. A number of ideas are left frustratingly undeveloped and a skit about pornography, however dressed up in irony, retains an uncomfortable whiff of misogyny.

While undoubtedly an assured and promising debut, this feels less like a carefully honed Edinburgh hour and more like a handful of club sets hastily pasted together. There is clearly much more to come.