We could all be a little happier, right? This is something that Ian Stone has been trying to achieve with seemingly mixed success. The entertaining hour you spend with Stone makes it painfully apparent that this is an intrinsically British trait. He starts the show by compiling the audience’s opinion on our own nation to gauge how we stack up on a global ranking. Naturally, the crowd responds quite negatively when discussing topics such as governance, but this sparks a genuinely fascinating and funny conversation as to why we aren’t happier.
Stone tackles this potentially tricky subject in a genuinely admirable manner. His way with words is eloquent, managing to seamlessly jump between menial issues such as the packaging of fruit to seriously infuriating issues we face in our lives, all while keeping the audience smiling. The anecdotes he tells will draw you in before climaxing into a totally visceral belly laugh.
The show flows nicely and is often aided by rib-tickling conversations Ian has with the audience, even if these sometimes fall a little flat. When asking questions about what makes everyone else happy, the responses are varied massively – “motorcycles”, “dogs”, “family”. This can throw the show from subject to subject but no matter where the audience is taken, Ian’s wit stands up. And while this is no secret, the crowd work in this performance just proves how naturally funny he really is.
‘Righter of Wrongs’ makes us look at ourselves and the people around us and in doing so, no one is immune from a light roasting; especially one audience member who found his happiness in his undying love for Yorkshire. Ian can laugh at others, he can laugh at himself and he can laugh at others laughing at him.
Ultimately, Ian Stone is a happy man, someone who manages to find pleasure out of anything. While it is often too easy to see the downside of a good situation, Stone finds the joy within terrible (hypothetical or not) scenarios and makes them funny and engaging.
Ian Stone: Righter of Wrongs, 16:00 at The Counting House (Venue 170)
August 4 – 14, 16 – 28
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on#q=%22Ian%20Stone%3A%20Righter%20of%20Wrongs%22
