AAA Stand-Up

Fringe tradition holds that desperate acts include as many letter As in their title as possible in order to appear at the front of the guide. The first entry this year has an impressive 23, by which standard AAA Stand-Up is remarkably restrained. Plus the show has pedigree, returning this year with a new triple bill of stand-ups.

MC for the evening is Tom Toal, a name you will remember but only because he says it so often. Referring to himself in the third person, he has the braggadocio of a South London estate agent. Unfortunately his gags don’t justify the swagger and he has a habit of putting audience members on the spot, killing momentum just as he introduces the other two acts.

Next is baby-faced Rhys James. Recently graduated, James suffers from playing polished student material to a non-student crowd. His nit-picking of idioms and clichés never becomes truly funny but when he builds up a rhythm, at one point breaking into verse, he shows real potential. However, this is the wrong place to be waxing lyrical about romantic poets and James appears nervous.

The final act is Joe Wells, who is almost worth the ticket price alone. Well-spoken and with a certain pudginess, Wells looks the very image of a Tory-boy. Thus it is surprising when he cracks out some honed political material, all with a socialist bent. A tight and confident set with some exceedingly clever moments, Wells rescues an evening that may come first in the alphabet, but not in much else.