Edinburgh previews: Seann Walsh & Alfie Brown

A firm favourite, Seann Walsh has the practiced assurance of a seasoned comedy veteran – slipping into aside confidences about his career, playing around with the order of his set, and incorporating the intermittent roaring traffic noise outside the small room’s window, each turn punctuated with good humour and natural wit, polished by years of TV panel shows and live audience-wrangling. Walsh is a grumpy young man at 31, and gives the impression of being impatient to grow further out of the self-made suit of television panel show regular. Whether he breaks this empasse will be curious to see. The show tonight was still in its composite pieces, unfinished but strong in its components.

Contrastingly, Alfie Brown’s show was even more in the bare bones of its components, with Brown showing sharp bright shards of clever emotive writing – most strongly demonstrated in his opening section about an envy towards women – and yet strewn with self-sabotage as he interrupted and undermined himself, quickly contradicted with confidence. It was a tricky set-up, with the trains’ poor service having led to Brown’s arrival delayed by hours, admitting that he was less inclined to be antagonistic than usual. The skeleton of political and personal ideas were sketched, but there was still more to be fleshed out before this would be a complete show.

Previews are a mixed bag, and this was that delightful glimpse of jewels to come and frantic swan paddling. An up-close-and-personal treat for comedy fans.

Caroline Of Brunswick, 19 July 2016

Rating: