Adam Hess, Edinburgh Fringe review: Twitter one-liner king makes an impressive debut
Puns, zingers and weird childhood memories make for a charming show
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Your support makes all the difference.Adam Hess’ Salmon, is one of the Fringe’s “Pay What You Want” shows. You don’t have to buy a ticket in advance – though the queues to get in are long so you might choose to in this final week – and you can throw whatever cash you think it’s worth into a bucket on the way out.
Hess ought to be raking it in – for good quality gags per minute, there is no better comedian on the Fringe.
This is Hess’ debut at the Fringe though he is a familiar face on the alternative circuit and has built up a considerable following online (46.8k on Twitter) for his daft one-liners. There are zillions of these in the show – “Did you know Kinder Surprise is German for ‘unwanted pregnancy’” – but Hess is more than a pun-slinger.
He has clearly thought about the shape of his show – using the loose concept of introducing himself to his new audiences as the structure off which to hang a hundred one-liners and tiny tales. So there are weird childhood recollections, facts about himself (“I don’t believe in triplets”, “I once spread a rumour all my teeth were molars” and so on) and observations on Christmas presents, Amazon, dating and how to get away with murder.
He breaks it up with a little audience participation though he barely pauses for breath long enough to let anyone else speak. Some may find his hyperactive, puppyish, million-miles-a-minute delivery too much, I found it charming. He will have won over many new fans this month – and rightly so.
Heroes @The Hive, to 31 August (www.edfringe.com)
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