Andy Linden: I Kid You Not

There is nothing here. No gags. No punch lines. No real anecdotes. Nothing to hide the total absence of material.

Actor Andy Linden is a warm and capable storyteller, but he has no stories to tell. Tales of the playground or his dad are fondly remembered, but are devoid of any level of interest or originality. What’s more, he has a tendency to push very mild jokes or phrases far past their breaking point. The line “my mum couldn’t even make a salad” is turned into an extended skit. The anecdotes from his life in showbusiness mostly consist of reciting other people’s more successful careers, and would barely pass muster at a dinner party.

The one exception is a gory story about killing a pig, which plays to the strengths of someone who, “when not playing villains, is playing nutters.” Even then, it is more unsettling than funny. However, these more manic moments hint that, if he weren't being so polite, Linden might have produced something out of the ordinary. But next to the other banal and inoffensive stories, it becomes a frankly surreal digression.

Linden is amiable and open, but he makes things more depressing than they need to be. His almost suicidal levels of self-deprecation may win the audience’s sympathy, but they also recall a particularly bleak scene from Extras. He inspires goodwill, and there is much to suggest that, supplied with better material, he might shine. With his current act though, he is kidding no one.