Ian Smith was stressed last year. It was in his show. His show was very well received. So he was starting to be concerned that he’d having nothing to say now that everything’s going A-okay in life, he’s been on Have I Got News For You, life is looking rosy… Oh! No, you’re good, April came around at the last minute with the results of his semen analysis. Hop on board Smith’s raucous response to finding out how his swimmers are doing.
It’s not just about the fertility trickiness Smith and his partner are experiencing, but he has to be admired for the snappy way he’s in the middle of it still and finding punchlines like wasps around jam. The nitty gritty of a particularly well conjured scene where he considers racing against his own semen’s expiration across town for delivery stands out for all the best reasons.
The energy this man possesses is fantastic, with every tangent as powerfully gag-packed as the trunk of his tale. How disconcerted he is at his own drift into middle class from Northern working class is rich and funny, early memories of key moments in his life – a delicious take on mints as a new Northern hardness scale, and outrage at savoury porridge.
Quite how many laughs are packed into Foot Spa Half Empty is pretty mind-boggling, especially considering that Smith slips a few educational points in too about men’s fertility, along with the eccentric Old Wives Tales. Definitely well worth seeing on so many levels.
Ian Smith: Foot Spa Half Empty
Monkey Barrel 1 at Monkey Barrel, 12.30, 2-24 August (except 13th)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ian-smith-foot-spa-half-empty
