Ivo Graham/ Josh Widdicombe
I went to work this morning, rejoining humanity in the process. I worked out that of the past 72 hours, I had spent 8 of them outside my house. Which frankly is a ludicrously small amount. Most of that had been heading to Dirty Dicks on Thursday evening for a pair of Edinburgh previews. It demonstrated the bargains that are available to the discerning comedy fan at this time of the year. £5 to watch Ivo Graham and Josh Widdicombe do 50 minutes to an hour each is excellent value.
There are many good reasons for me to resent the young, privileged former Eton student Ivo Graham. It's frustrating then that he's really rather good. He's quietly cultivated a strong stage persona over the past couple of years, an awkward, bewildered young man trying to make his way in the world. As he notes, the subject matter of a young stand-up comedian uncertain whether or not he's a proper adult is not exactly groundbreaking stuff. But he makes it his own with some clever writing and a fine turn of phrase.
Josh Widdicombe has established himself as one of the biggest new acts in the country in the past few years. With a tour starting in September, his set was a little more rough around the edges than Graham's, occasionally admitting "that bit doesn't really have an end yet". But the fully formed material demonstrated his pedigree in observational writing, from an excellent description of the perils of sitting in the front or rear four coaches of a train ("Like East and West Berlin") to the absurdity of owning a bed with a built in desk.
The socialite and trend setter Darren Maskell was also in attendance and he noted Widdicombe's tendency to focus on nostalgia, not least in a closing section where he revives the Filofax he owned as a child. Perhaps Widdicombe may yet become the Peter Kay of our generation, but I suspect he's too incisive and insightful for that.
There are many good reasons for me to resent the young, privileged former Eton student Ivo Graham. It's frustrating then that he's really rather good. He's quietly cultivated a strong stage persona over the past couple of years, an awkward, bewildered young man trying to make his way in the world. As he notes, the subject matter of a young stand-up comedian uncertain whether or not he's a proper adult is not exactly groundbreaking stuff. But he makes it his own with some clever writing and a fine turn of phrase.
Josh Widdicombe has established himself as one of the biggest new acts in the country in the past few years. With a tour starting in September, his set was a little more rough around the edges than Graham's, occasionally admitting "that bit doesn't really have an end yet". But the fully formed material demonstrated his pedigree in observational writing, from an excellent description of the perils of sitting in the front or rear four coaches of a train ("Like East and West Berlin") to the absurdity of owning a bed with a built in desk.
The socialite and trend setter Darren Maskell was also in attendance and he noted Widdicombe's tendency to focus on nostalgia, not least in a closing section where he revives the Filofax he owned as a child. Perhaps Widdicombe may yet become the Peter Kay of our generation, but I suspect he's too incisive and insightful for that.
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