A schedule clash meant that I arrived at this final slightly late, just after first act Josh Baulf came on. I had to double check I was in the right venue though and I hadn't walked into a secret Rob Beckett gig, because for a moment that's who I thought I was watching. Baulf has the same cheeky chappie personality as Beckett, albeit with smaller teeth and Olly Murs coloured hair. All of which is not a bad thing. His gags and stories were well told and occasionally he had a striking image, complaining about moped gangs, worrying that muggers were getting younger, imagining cycling on a Penny Farthing. And sensibly he got a pre-emptive strike in, mentioning Rob Beckett himself.
Second on was Leeds comic Maisie Adam who won Edinburgh's So You Think You're Funny? last year. Adam has a distinctive personality and a newish angle. She has recently moved to Brighton and while her observations on Brighton's woke, liberal tofu-favoured culture were not the most groundbreaking they had an engaging appeal. Adam is tall and also got plenty of laughs out of the travails of having long legs. People say she can be a model but Adam listed the reasons why being lanky is not so great. It didn't do her any harm on the night though – she was the main winner (pictured).
For once though Adam could not say that she was head and shoulders above the competition. Next act Jack Harris towered over her. His jokes were not quite as impressive though as he explained how he was a teacher but could never teach in primary schools because his knees would tend to bash into childen's faces. In fact a large chunk of his act felt like he was simply talking about his job at a dinner party. Interesting and a few laughs peppered here and there but maybe not strong enough for a set in front of a paying audience. He certainly had stage presence but then that's probably not hard when you are way over six foot.
Irishman Oisin Hanlon came charging on with a "I'm mad me" glint in his eye and didn't bring much more to the table with his tales of his mate Dave, who won't let Oisin hold his baby. The material felt all over the place and ended with a story about German pornography that didn't seem to have a discernable punchline at all. If there had been prizes for loudest yell he'd have been a contender, but his jokes failed to make a noise.
Rosie Holt started strongly with some #metoo material, suggesting that things that are no longer acceptable now is an echo of the way we used to think it was OK to smoke in front of babies but would no longer dream of doing that now. But given that this was only a short set the quality of the material soon started to dip as she began to make jokes about her sex life. It was certainly cowdpleasing for a late night gig and might have got Holt a placing except that there are no placings, just Main Winner, Breakthrough Award and People's Award.
Review continues here.
Picture: Andy Eaton of FringePhoto.net
