Steve Bugeja’s recently cancelled ITV2 sitcom, Buffering, as well as his journey to getting it on the air, forms the basis of his standup hour. He begins by taking you through his early life; how he went from economics nerd and head of his school’s Bank of England club to comedy dreamer and aspiring sitcom writer. His journey to the vaunted sitcom of his dreams is a cheekily warm comedic odyssey to the fulfilment of his dreams and what it all means.
Bugeja, clearly a congenital storyteller, tells it all with a tongue-in-cheek nostalgia and impressive momentum; he has you vicariously living the depths of his despair to the highs of creating an ITV2 sitcom and feeling “shiny”. It’s in his asides where his delivery becomes slightly stilted and awkward, and his observations about wealth – such as a four-slice toaster being the epitome of success and the insanity of out of touch millionaires giving us advice on podcasts – don’t feel all that fresh or clever. His crowd work is in a similar vein, it’s tangentially related, but doesn’t feel all that funny or important to the rest of his material.
When he steers things back into the personal, however, he seems more comfortable, and delivers some seriously funny observations and recollections about the world of celebrity. When he comes to the task of bringing his narrative to a close, he does it with an admirable flair. He relays an entire spectrum of emotions associated with fame and reaching your dreams; it’s mellow but still hopeful as he paints a picture of all the roses and thorns which come with achieving your goals. It’s a bit of a fake-deep lecture, but it feels like a fitting way for Bugeja to end his show.
Steve Bugeja: Shiny, 13.25, Monkey Barrel, until August 25
