RATING: 4/5
RETURNING to the Edinburgh Fringe this year, Robin Morgan provides an hour of fun, lighthearted, jokes and stories about his life, guaranteed to get some laughs.
Morgan performs in a beautiful, packed room in the Counting House, filled with an excited, friendly atmosphere.
He starts off with a particularly funny icebreaker in which he manufactures his own welcome onto stage by exiting and reentering after instructing the audience to react to his arrival, poking fun at his lack of an MC.
Poking fun at himself is something Morgan is able to do throughout his set, which not only gets significant laughs but also brings him down to earth and puts the audience at ease.
Some of the highlights from the show were Robin’s interactions with members of the audience in which he demonstrates his quick wit and ability to get an abundance of laughs whilst engaging in a friendly and playful way.
He discusses topics such as what different men call their “willies”, sex education and vasectomies with members of the audience, working with their responses in a genuinely funny way and without creating an uncomfortable atmosphere.
Some of Morgan’s best material was his observational humour surrounding fatherhood and, in particular, his headstrong, redhead daughter.
Morgan manages to discuss parenting in a way that does not alienate those without children, but rather brings laughter to the whole audience as he recounts some of the bizarre and hilarious things his children have said.
His whole presence on stage is extremely warm and likable, putting the audience at ease and making it hard not to enjoy his show.
At points during his set, Morgan gives the impression that he’s trying to shove as many jokes down the throats of the audience as possible (granted it is a work-in-progress show).
However, his performance would have greatly benefitted from a more confident, relaxed delivery as some jokes were missed by the audience in his rush to get them all out there.
Although the majority of Morgan’s jokes were well received, his set would have also been greatly elevated by some continuity.
He includes some running jokes such as his continuous insistence that he has a wife throughout the show despite his effeminate demeanor and his sarcastic referral to himself as a “bad boy”.
This joke landed particularly well when he tried on an audience member’s rather small leather jacket to try out his new bad boy persona, causing the room to erupt in laughter.
The fault however, lies in that it feels like there are almost too many topics covered, and not enough time is given for the audience to fully engage with any particular bit or story that Morgan presents.
Morgan’s performance demonstrates extreme potential, and with some refining, it promises to be a five-star show.
That being said, this work-in-progress still produces significantly more laughs than some finished products and is an excellent piece of comedy that I would highly recommend catching while you can.
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