By Ron Bingham
Irish comedy legend Andrew Maxwell isn’t being as political as usual this year, possibly because of the chaotic nature of the UK’s politics making it impossible to have material that last more than a week. This year’s show looks at culture, especially Irish and Australian (Perth), with mentions of that art installation where people in New York and Dublin could interact in real time, which went so disastrously wrong, and the short shart Prime Ministership of Liz Truss as compared to the long reign of Queen Elizabeth.
We also had a poignant story about Andrew’s father and rugby, which got very emotional, and a tale of his nephew in rural Ireland’s bravery and dress sense. I liked how Andrew told us that his father always came to Edinburgh with him, and sat at the back of his shows, so often that he became a second father to all the Irish comics in Edinburgh. Pity dad thought his son’s comedy wasn’t as good as another performer, but that’s parents for you.
As usual, Andrew is well versed in the art of storytelling, knows when to break the tension of a story with a joke, and surprisingly good at kicking the set. The large audience (probably around 200) were enjoying the show, once they’d all dragged themselves out of the bar next door, and it was a thoroughly good hour of stand-up…. though Andrew’s dad would probably have said “not as good as Jason Byrne”.
The Bare Maximum is on at Just the Tonic Nucleus until August 25
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/andrew-maxwell-the-bare-maximum