Comedian Danny Bhoy is as engaging and energetic as ever with a set that is both endearingly Scottish and comprehensively global in its reach.
The opening night of the Danny Bhoy’s Scottish tour is replete with Scottish references. It feels like they have been bubbling away under the surface just waiting to be let out back on native soil. The Glaswegian comic lets loose his cultural roots, suggesting they had been kept well underground for the English leg of this tour.
The impact, or lack of it, that Scottish cuisine has made on our European neighbours is explored in an imagining of a Spanish family eating “British”.
A segment revealing the names of possible Scottish wine producing regions is masterful, although it could be lost in translation outside of Scotland. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a parochial or overly nationalistic set, far from it.
This is most political of his shows to date, and frankly who can blame him? With Trump and Brexit there’s just too much comic fodder for any comedian worth the name to ignore. Despite its political leanings it’s far from despairing or gloomy.
The Trump impersonations alone could happily fill a full set with infectious laughter. He takes a clear -eyed look at the absurdity of our situation in the Brexit holding pattern. He scrutinises the failings of tour global leaders, although the Canadian Prime Minister gets a different approach.
There are some serious points to be made in this show, such as the catastrophic decision by Trump to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, but there are plenty of moments that have the audience crying with laughter.
The mascara wrecking evening of comedy touches on the potential impact of having founding mothers instead of founding fathers in the US, what Theresa May gets up to in the dark, and the ego-wrecking consequences of spending an extra £5 on a Ryanair flight to Glasgow. Danny Bhoy’s set is polished and pacy, with just enough ad-libbing meanders to keep things fresh and inclusive.
A delightful combination of physical and cerebral comedy, one moment there’s a subtle put down of the flat earth brigade, the next there’s a ridiculously comic bell-ringing demonstration.
I strongly recommend catching him on the rest of this Scottish tour. But wear your waterproof mascara.
Danny Bhoy plays Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre 22nd and 25th June
