Tag: Andrew Maxwell

Andrew Maxwell: The Bare Maximum

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”.

Four stars!

The Bare Maximum is on at Just the Tonic Nucleus until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/andrew-maxwell-the-bare-maximum

Andrew Maxwell: All Talk

By Ron Bingham

Andrew Maxwell is performing his twenty fifth year at the Fringe. For those who don’t know, Andrew is from Ireland, his wife is a Muslim and they have chosen to live in a Brexit voting area of Kent. One of his other jobs is as a voice over man, most notably for the reality TV show Ex On The Beach, which he describes as a downmarket version of Love Island.

Andrew has very strong views on Brexit and the people who voted for it. And, just to save time, I and pretty much everyone in the venue agreed with those views. Actually, I’m not sure that the Edinburgh Fringe is somewhere that a Brexit voter would even consider visiting, what with all that tolerance, multiculturalism and friendly bonhommie on display.

Andrew talks about the Brexit vote and his numerous discussions around the country (he recently did a long series of gigs in small (Brexit-voting) market towns about the subject), and he demonstrates the main arguments for Brexit that have been put forth by its supporters. They are as detailed and cogent as you would expect from people who think Boris Johnson is their saviour.

Apart from Brexit, Andrew talks about his family and the jolly problems they have going through airport security, his 18 year old son’s attempts at rebellion, and his first experience of the pebbly beaches of south east England. All of this was delivered in a very scratchy voice, as he appears to have broken his vocal cords by day five. I recommend booking to see this as soon as possible, especially if you are not a fan of Brexit. Very funny hour of comedy and you will definitely learn something from his chat.

All Talk is on at Underbelly, George Square until August 25
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/andrew-maxwell-all-talk