“Embrace your embarrassing stories,” Gareth Mutch tells us and, thankfully, he practises what he preaches.#
The Scottish comedian mines his own life for an hour of sharply observed, gloriously awkward comedy, moving from growing up in Scotland to disastrous social situations, dating and married life. Mutch is particularly good at exposing the absurdity of class differences.
His story about finding himself at a party surrounded by “posh” people, involving an encounter over olives and a tactical vape escape, is comedy built from the sort of social discomfort most of us would rather forget. Mutch is happiest when the joke is firmly at his own expense. His stories about joining “fat football” and being placed in the “Edinburgh Elephants” are among the show’s biggest laughs, while his material about his weight is surprisingly playful rather than self-conscious.
He never asks the audience to pity him; he invites them to laugh with him. Including a hilarious joke about phone providers and that he stands by Giff Gaff for life! Mutch has bags of potential and a personality you want to see more of. He is extremely likeable when he is performing and has great crowd control alongside material which brims over with laughter and fun.
Gareth Mutch Means Well, 16:40 at Stand 1 at The Stand Comedy Club at 4:20pm from August 5-31
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/gareth-mutch-means-well
