Dan Nightingale: Geronimo, Underbelly, Edinburgh
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Your support makes all the difference.Resembling Harry Hill in appearance and Lee Mack in delivery, Dan Nightingale has some star quality of his own, despite his self-aware delivery and lack of punchy gags.
Much more a short story-teller than a gagsmith, the young comic lets situations such as being surrounded by posturing gym bunnies speak for themselves, with some excitable embroidering to heighten the imagery. Some routines are polished with a good line, as when he describes his enjoyment of the rave scene, saying that ecstasy helped because: "When you look like me, it's good to feel like the Lord of the Dance."
With an array of similes at the ready, and boundless energy, Nightingale puts a lot of work into charming the audience, and it pays off, getting us through the lulls where routines don't seem to have been topped-and- tailed. He can undermine himself when he says how much he likes a joke, though when he attacks himself for talking about something as "hackneyed" as watching television on drugs, he achieves some measure of redemption.
Unfortunately, Nightingale falls between two stools, with his stories too short to make a lasting impression, and his observations not always as honed as they might be. With some actual material he could be unstoppable – he's pretty good with what he has already.
To 24 August (0844 545 8252)
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