IVO GRAHAM gives a good impression of a man who would do anything to avoid confrontation.
But it takes serious cojones to take a show to Edinburgh that contains a fair whack of content themed around England’s exploits at Euro24.
To be fair, he also mentions Scotland’s all-too-brief appearance at the tournament, comparing the two countries’ campaigns top the end of a non-existent, 24-hour teen tryst to the break-up of a long-term relationship.
That sort of thing would normally make us chippy Jocks bristle but it’s to Ivo’s credit that you can’t help but laugh at the cheeky sod.
He did, however, make sure he had the crowd on side by sticking the boot into James Corden…
Ivo has progressed to filling the largest space at the Pleasance by superbly playing up his image of a bumbling posh boy but there’s far more to one of the sharpest and most consistently hilarious comics on the circuit than that.
So when he compared himself to former England manager Gareth Southgate – “A nice man but out of his depth”, just one of the MANY Euro24 references – you knew this was just more of his trademark self-deprecation.
Put it this way, when a crowd interaction that was designed to set up the next section inadvertently revealed that the lady he was talking to had been stood up and the chap in question was refusing to pay for the unused ticket, he effortlessly turned this into comedy gold, videoing a stern if still polite rebuke on the lady’s phone while the crowd booed in the background.
I’ve never seen the like.
That said, before he came on Ivo warmed up the crowd with a Powerpoint listing five of his more recent catastrophes that he simply didn’t have time for in this brilliantly funny show.
It is, as he admits, quite a list-based show which appealed to OCD me.
As did the fact a running gag involved Garibaldi and the Italian unification of 1861, catnip to this Edinburgh Uni history graduate!
Ivo’s not pushing any boundaries but he’s one of the funniest stand-ups at the Fringe. You’d be mad to miss him.
Ivo Graham: Grand Designs, 21.20 is on at the Pleasance Courtyard – Grand, Until August 25 (not 7, 13-15).
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ivo-graham-grand-designs
