Review: Nick Doody: PG

Nick Doody is a fearless performer. He seems to have consciously sidestepped the relative glamour of high profile Fringe venues and instead chosen to lodge himself in the bowels of the Subway nightclub, a near unworkable space with terrible acoustics and a noisy bar. He really has to work to get the audience—scattered across this cavernous room—on side, and it's a pleasure watching him do so.

The premise of this show is that Doody has been invited back on the road as a support act for Dave Gorman, under the condition that he tailor his act for younger audience members attracted by his friend's TV exposure. This prompts our hero to explore the parameters of what might prompt audiences to feel uncomfortable, not in terms of language or contentious issues, but in relation to everyday concepts and attitudes. The show's opening piece makes us all incredibly uncomfortable, though nothing about it could be considered offensive. Doody is making a genuine if unconventional attempt to gauge the limits of what audiences can reasonably be expected to tolerate.

As our hero readily admits, this show has a distinct work-in-progress quality to it, but that's part of its appeal. While other shows purport to 'explore' their chosen subjects, only to lightly brush against them, Doody is genuinely, actively curious and prepared to risk baffled silence as he carries out his investigations.