Alexis Dubus: Cars and Girls

Alexis Dubus is deeply defensive of childishness, though he does acknowledge that a comedian with arrested development is not exactly a novelty. For him, it's more than a state of mind; sometimes, it's the best way of dealing with the hand life deals you. Dubus, however, is the best kind of childish comedian: one that is actually very smart.

His new hour is less thematically strict than previous Fringe lectures on swearing and nudity and, while the eponymous Cars and Girls  provide a structure, it is far looser, allowing Dubus to practice his mastery of tangential storytelling. His anecdotal humour winningly recounts his experiences with women and automobiles, and the unexpected roles each has played in his life. No curve balls there, then. 

An epic hitchhiking journey to Morocco in the company of a university girlfriend succeeds via the human kindness of a string of debauched truck drivers, while a post-heartbreak sojourn to Burning Man brings with it a memorable cast of friendly desert bohemians, who assist Dubus towards enlightenment with a combination of drugs and screwdrivers. 

While the show gets off to a shaky start and there isn't quite enough material for the running time, Dubus gives us genuine insight into his journeys, emotional and physical, and makes us care in a way that few comedians can. By the end of his warm, relatable performance, the ever-childish Dubus has grown up a little, and it was a pleasure to watch him do so.