Alex Zane: Just One More Thing, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In the spirit of a show whose title alludes to Columbo, let me do first what old-school American detective-shows did best, the summation: 31-year-old radio and TV presenter Alex Zane is a nice enough bloke whose comedy shtick doesn't seem to have come on since his early success, aged 18, in the Fringe-based So You Think You're Funny? competition. Case closed.
Has a man who talks about urinal etiquette and the sensation of wearing just a T-shirt really moved on from starter-kit comedy? A lot has happened in comedy since then and a lot has happened in Zane's own life too. He's gone from medical student to DJ (Xfm and NME Radio) and television presenter (Popworld and Rude Tube, all the greats), so you'd think that he'd have something to say for himself.
Yet, despite the pageant of Zane's life so far, there's very little of his soul on offer tonight save for stories that sound a little disingenuous about him being a briefcase-wielding geek at school, lower on the food chain than "the kid who ate mud for 50p".
As for medical school, surely a rich vein for japery, all we find out is that Zane used to study by watching the US hospital sitcom Scrubs. From this he surmises blandly that "laughter is not the best medicine – it's chemotherapy". Where one seeks insight, one finds lists of bad film straplines or new categories for film awards. Strictly for his fan base, then.
To 30 August (0131 556 6550)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments