THE FIRST thing Larry mentions are his somewhat demonic eyes – “Like a pervy Zorro”.
And he’s right, so when he locks them onto me I know I’m in trouble.
Reviewers try to hide in the background, tuck our telltale lanyards away and scribble away in our notebook at the back of various sweaty Fringe venues of various sizes.
But the usher at the Pleasance Beyond, one of the largest Edinburgh venues and on this occasion totally sold out, was having none of it and directed me to a single seat in the second row, right on the aisle with what to a paying punter would have been a gloriously uninterrupted view of the all-too-close stage.
Christ I felt vulnerable.
Then Larry asks who was with a gent who tried to nip out surreptitiously to the loo from the row in front of me was with, and I made the cardinal error of pointing to his wife.
“Oh, the reviewer is pointing her out!”
Oh bollocks.
“Who are you reviewing for? Entertainment Now?” Larry turns to the capacity crowd, “What do we think of the show, folks?”
Huge cheers. “There’s yer review, mate!” he said with a demonic grin.
To be honest, I was in absolute agreement with the rest of the audience anyway. Larry is just one of those comics who you can’t help but like, one of the best in the business and, though comparing comedians is reductive and ultimately self-defeating, the nearest thing we have to a Billy Connolly on the circuit today.
Part of that comes from his habit of following a finely-honed and beautifully delivered punchline with a line that appears to be a throw-away afterthought but is actually just as funny as the main gag itself.
That takes real skill and is reminiscent of the Big Yin at his best.
There’s a real Scottish – perhaps uniquely Glaswegian – flavour to much of what Larry does. He can be self-lacerating, caustic and bitchy but at the same time there’s real emotion to this show, which probably stems from the fact a lot of it references his recent marriage to husband Mikey.
He also talked about his diagnosis of autism which, as I’m in my second career as an Additional Support Needs teacher, had a particular resonance for me.
But just as you’re being drawn in, he’ll undercut the pathos with a superbly filthy punchline. Several of these produced gasps from the crowd, not least a Princess Di joke that had a fella behind me splutter “Fknell!!!”
It should be up for the Fringe Joke Of The Year Award but as Larry himself admitted, “It’s now four shows in and I’m still not sure I can keep that one in!”
Go see him as soon as you can, not just because tickets are selling fast but in case he does decide to cut it!
Larry Dean: Hellbent, 18:30, Pleasance Courtyard – Beyond, August 5-30 (not 16).
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/larry-dean-hellbent
