Ever questioned the absurdity of eating a birthday-cake flavoured protein bar marketed to men? Liam has and it’s hilarious. It’s these sorts of insights that kept the audience engaged for the hour.
I was lucky to get a seat in the sold-out Monkey Barrel 1 just in time to hear Liam’s story of escaping the uncultured town of Dagenham (where a Costa Coffee machine is the height of gentrification) to the cultured (for one month, at least) city of Edinburgh. He jokes about a personal trainer sliding into his DMs to recruit him as a client, his multiple addictions, and takes jabs at his Irish father and tech-illiterate mother.
Although not heavy on audience interaction, Liam works the crowd well – he even praises a heckler who gets ahead of his punchline – and the tender moments of his life he’s chosen to share receive genuine reaction.
Fluidly jumping between different stages of his life, he dissects the stories that have shaped the man we see on stage. His alcohol addiction tracing back to a single Guinness can at the age of seven. The heartbreak of a Pigeon Detectives-loving teen. Lying to his mum about picking up her bike. All told earnestly but with a sharp delivery that means you don’t feel guilty as you inevitably laugh away.
Liam ties these threads together neatly at the conclusion of his set, which he performs with a vibrant confident energy until the very end, leaving the audience smiling and looking forward to hearing the next chapter of his life.
Liam Whitnail: Big Strong Boy, Monkey Barrel Comedy (Monkey Barrel 1), until Aug 24 (not 13)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/liam-withnail-big-strong-boy
