★★★★
Contemporary ‘ladz bantz’ stand-up has come in for a lot of criticism of late, but I think that’s because most of those who attempt the ‘your funny mate down the pub’ act, aren’t actually funny or your mate. This is where McClaine is a cut above. Not only is he effortlessly funny, and totally himself, his ‘I’m a legend’ persona allows him to be subversively clever in ways the audience don’t even realise.
Beirne’s set is essentially storytelling. We get the stories of ‘dating on Tinder’ and clubbing, beyond cliché for a 20-something comic, but when you’re disabled, there are tales stranger than fiction, that I wont spoil, but I was howling.
Being a black disabled stand-up at the very white non-disabled Edinburgh Fringe, there’s experiences the audience are seeing from a limited perspective. Beirne is acutely aware of this, and his ironic running gag of telling a white non-disabled audience ‘you can relate to this’ was a very clear indication that his material has been carefully crafted to allow him to say exactly what he wants.
It’s not a perfect set by any means. McClaine is still figuring his style out, and there are some real groans when a few flippant poor-taste jokes are fired out with an awkward smirk.
Essentially, Beirne is a funny and original voice that the Edinburgh Fringe would’ve been so much poorer without.
