After a brief break Markus Birdman was the first act of the second half. I’ve seen the well-dressed, dapper comic in clubs but he showed a different side on this occasion, exploring how he was dealing with his ten-year-old daughter post-split. His gags were punctuated by readings of short children’s stories he had written, some adapted from fairy tales. While Birdman didn’t win here, a publisher should take a look at his work pronto. He could have a new career there.
Ian Smith has a cameo in Richard Gadd’s full show but he made it into the final here on his own merits. A slight technical hitch at the start wrongfooted him, but then he won brownie points as he recovered well with a series of quickfire quips. Smith also cleverly slipped in references to the competition in his routine in which he offered comic answers to serious Wikihow questions. Not quite Tim Vine-style puns, not exactly complex comedy, but they certainly got the room laughing.
The line-up so far had been all-male, so when Abbie Murphy was introduced the balance was slightly redressed. Unfortunately Murphy was the disappointment of the day. Her working class character, Stephanie Vange, felt like an off-the-peg female chav – her schtick was that she had stumbled onto the Fringe and had no idea what was going on. Maybe it has more depth over a full hour. Murphy certainly has plenty of performance skills, but the writing could have been a lot tighter and more original.
I’d heard good things about Canadian comedian John Hastings but he didn’t quite click this time in a short routine that homed in on his dyspraxia and his inability to play football. There were some neat lines and turns of phrase but Hastings was a little too low-energy to get the voters fired up. I would imagine his full show is a much better showcase for his obvious talents.
And finally another woman. Jess Robinson was certainly different to most of the acts you see on the Fringe, an unashamedly old-fashioned stage school songstress who did impressionists of the musical greats. Some were so old – Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe – they were even before my time. Things were brought a little more up to date with the likes of Lana Del Ray and there was a nice bit of improv when she did Kate Bush singing Postman Pat. The most bizarre thing was what Robinson didn't sing – she actually resembles Amy Winehouse yet didn’t do her. If she doesn’t do Winehouse in her full set her manager needs to have a word with her. Robinson was certainly a crowdpleasing closer and won her the People’s Champion Award.
