Lee Nelson's Well Good Edinbra Show

121329 original

As the audience walks in, Dizzee Rascal is thumping through the speakers. The mostly young, conspicuously male crowd are cheerfully sipping their pints and doing a little chair-dancing. It's a scene that inspires considerable apprehension. Until, that is, Lee Nelson comes bounding through the door, dishing out a round of high-fives. It's instantly endearing.

Lee Nelson is the chavvy alter-ego of doctor-turned-comedian Simon Brodkin. Brodkin is one of those comics who launched themselves at the Fringe, and since his extremely successful debut back in 2006, he has shot to fame taking his character sketches onto the telly. But where the televised Lee Nelson's Well Good Show features several of Brodkin's creations, for the 'Edinbra' incarnation, he restricts himself to just the one persona.

It's great standup: sharp, fast, relentless. He announces early on, “I'll take the piss, you take the piss, and we'll all have a little giggle.” But of course that's not how it happens. And as Brodkin goads everybody indiscriminately—the “old geez”, the “fat geez”, the “posh boy”, the “geek legend”, girls in general—we all laugh as though we've just realised the adorable new puppy has shat all over the living room carpet. What he says is offensive, ignorant and crass, but he does it all with an unfaltering lack of self-awareness and an irrepressible beaming smile. This is a sharp, provocative and very funny hour of character comedy.