Russell Kane

Source: The List (Issue 582)
Date: 9 August 2007
Written by: Marissa Burgess

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Putting the accent on originality

Plucking his theme from a review he received last year, Russell Kane decided to take on criticism and explore the notion of stereotype and cliché in comedy. A risky gambit, as it would be all too easy to simply slip into those stereotypes – the Essex man, the posh Oxford bloke – rather than subvert them. Indeed, when Kane begins proceedings, talking about staying in Leith and its propensity for plastic tat shops, you worry that’s where he’s headed. But it soon transpires that Kane will give those clichés flesh.

Employing his verdant imagination, he invigorates these ‘tired stereotypes’ employing a vocabulary akin to a more famous (at least for the moment) comic called Russell, an array of silly voices and a keen sense of the absurd. Morningside residents are given a high-pitched Scottish trill. Punctuating the stand-up are sketches performed with Sadie Hasler, a particularly enjoyable one featuring a flamboyant Essex take on Shakespearean language. At one point, Kane refers to a loud noise outside as the stars falling off his reviews. Only the one, Russell.

Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 14, 22), 9.50pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7–£8).

More: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Russell Kane, Fringe (Edinburgh Festivals), Reviews (Comedy), Stand-up (Comedy)

Last updated: 25 Jul 2008 17:14 BST