Review | Big Value laughs on the Connections terrace

Big Value Edinburgh Comedy | Connections Nightclub | til Feb 24 | ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Comedy shows can often be hit and miss especially with Fringe, sometimes bordering on cringeworthy and uncomfortable. But not The Big Value Edinburgh Comedy, granted the audience capacity was somewhat minuscule however it did not stop the comedians from delivering their very best which made the show all the more memorable.

Andrew, the emcee, was particularly charming (it was the accent that made me swoon) and he did not let the small number present dampen his spirits or his humour. From getting us all to move closer to him (which i gladly did) to finding out a little bit more about his audience there was never a dull moment when he was at the mic. The audience certainly enjoyed his sense of humour and when it came to participation it was all hands on deck. From questioning why an audience member had a broken finger (he hit a door because Chelsea lost a football game) to why a Russian expat was seeing little people (don’t ask) it was rapid fire and non-stop.

Elenor, was first up and she decided to poll the audience for topics to discuss, what was on the agenda: dating, drugs and porn. I voted for dating, one of the ladies present voted for porn (she got a high five) however drugs won the vote. Brutally honest and crazy funny she related her previous experience with the ‘fun’ drugs which may have bordered on uncomfortable but was incredibly relatable and insightful. Then we switched to dating and she made contact with one of the audience members who became her ‘soulmate’ and from there she proved to be even more relatable as she described creating an entire romantic lifelong scenario in her head from just a hello on Tinder (she is my spirit animal).

Highlight: Trying to figure out how to wind down the show once she was done.

Gary, from Glasgow was next and while sometimes his accent got the better of him it was still hysterically funny to hear a straight man try to figure out why frying pans cost so much money. I have never heard someone focus so much on kitchen equipment and make it ridiculously funny. I won’t be looking at my equipment the same way again.

Highlight: Hearing him use the frying pan as an analogy for his failed relationships will stay with me.

All in all a really fantastic show.

Catch Big Value Edinburgh Comedy at Connections Nightclub and The Brass Monkey all Fringe World long. Head to fringeworld.com.au for more information.

Leon Berger