Toussaint Douglass simply has funny bones. He also has a pigeon on wheels onstage. What more could you want from an Edinburgh Fringe debut?
In his first full length show Accessible Pigeon Material Douglass tells us a bit about his own background and sets out his stall as a distinctive comedian beautifully, bursting with assured oddball charm. The title is a homage to an old Mike Skinner album and also refers to the fact that he claims his show is going to be an hour of pigeon gags. As he kicks off I'm not sure if that's a promise or a threat, but nobody leaves. They all want to know what is coming next.
It isn’t entirely bird-related of course, but any passing ornithologists will be won over by the rest of his act. Douglass has a way of mixing quirkiness with actual proper jokes. I haven’t seen anyone do that this well since James Acaster. He also dresses a bit like James Acaster, nerd meets hipster vintage.
The pigeon gags are essentially easter eggs which, when cracked open, tell Douglass’s story so far. As a child he always stood out – he must have been one of the few under tens in Lewisham to go to school with an attache case. His flatmate for a long time was an older lady. Or as he calls her, “gran”.
Biographical details pepper the set but you don’t have to play (pigeon) detective to pick up the clues or spot that there may be some neurodivergence involved here. Dougglass chats about his schooldays and not quite fitting in. He talks about his relationship with his father and about becoming a father himself now that he lives with his partner.
He’s a confident performer too, happy to mess with the audience, giving one fan the remote control device for his motorised pigeon. At one point he pulls out a glove puppet boxer (shades of Vic Reeves’ old props) which ‘plays’ his dad and he gets audience members to interact with it. Is it comedy? Is it cathartic onstage therapy? All I can say is it’s very funny.
Douglass is a real talent. TV is already onto him so he barely needs success in Edinburgh. I’ve seen him do short sets in the past and wondered how he’d pull things together for a longer narrative. He has done that brilliantly here. Accessible Pigeon Material confirms that Douglass’ career is about to take flight.
Until August 24. Buy tickets here.
Picture by Ray Roberts
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