Carl Donnelly approaches the stage with a natural swagger, yet his stories are nothing of the sort. In between “Do you know what I mean’s” “man’s” and “innit’s”, Carl goes into excruciating detail about facing his health as he gets older. It’s gross, inappropriate, and side-splitting, somewhat literally for Carl.
Accidentally on theme, Carl warns the crowd that he’s got the Fringe Flu early, and to excuse any madness as it’s the Sudafed talking. It’s hard to know how much of the genuine Carl you get and how much is Sudafed, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he’s funny on and off the meds.
Carl’s jokes stand by themselves; he doesn’t really shout or bounce around the stage as a backup, his demeanour is a very calm one, it’s refreshing for a comedy stand-up show, and most definitely works. This calm, chill guy’s attitude seems to be a problem in Carl’s life. In one story, Carl was chill to the extent that he mistook a near-death brutal illness for coffee withdrawals.
This illness story leans into more brutality, but this time for the audience as Carl vividly describes his experience with a colonoscopy, ouch.
Carl says when writing the show back in December, it was going to be solely based on his illness as well as his daughters, who was also extremely ill. He realised it all sounded a bit doom and gloom, so to fix this, he threw in some morning drinking, being on suicide watch with the world’s biggest marketplace and a dangerous quest for a mysterious bar in India.
Carl Donnelly: Another Round 20.30, Monkey Barrell Comedy, Hive, until August 24
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/carl-donnelly-another-round
