Phil is trying to get a good review from The Guardian. I think he deserves one for the hour of comedy he presents to the crowd. It’s mostly stand-up with a little bit of audience interaction and silly character plants. Using his family as a crux to his jokes, a slideshow signifies which family member he is using as a template for the current batch of gags he tells.
The show opens with not-Phil Ellis reading his material off a script, it’s a nice set up to the character antics that continues sporadically and lifts the room as he is chased off stage.
Even though it’s mostly stand up, his physical humour stands out, he’s expressive and bounces across the stage. His material is good, we see a picture of his Auntie giving him his first pint but he’s at his funniest when working on the cuff, the biomedical scientist in the crowd gets a good bit of stick. He gets to show off his wittiness and along with the outrageous character actors he brings with him it nicely breaks up the show.
He mentions that these characters are a feature of his previous shows so you might be more clued in who exactly they are if you’ve seen him before.
He ends the show in madcap rodeo rendition of John Denver’s Country Roads which is a bit on the silly side, but it caps off a very strong hour.
Phil Ellis: Soppy Stern, Monkey Barrel 4 at Monkey Barrel Comedy, 12:45, Until 24 Aug
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/phil-ellis-soppy-stern
