Chris Ramsey: Feeling Lucky

Nominated for last year’s Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the lad from Sunderland follows up with another tight show that will both consolidate his Fringe status and widen his fanbase. After getting the audience to throw an oversized die around the room to select who he directs his opening banter at, Ramsey then explains that this show won’t be about Lady Luck but about randomness – from always being stopped in the street by weirdos to the mind-boggling fortuitousness of our existence.

Some nice yarns about his parents nearly killing him by accident are among some of the well crafted routines that follow. These act as amuse bouches to the main set-piece story at the end which, appropriately enough since it is about sky-diving, sends everyone out on a high. Ramsey’s energy and drive is truly admirable and he’s an impressive force.

There are, however, a number of aspects to his act that serve to undermine some of the goodwill that he generates. He is too hurried at times, too afraid that he might not recoup his rhythm if he were to get sidetracked. Another of Ramsey’s habits is to rely too heavily on grating stock responses (e.g. "happy days"); silly verbal emoticons that have little value. But this tic should fall away with time as he continues to refine his comedy, as while Ramsey sometimes feels like the finished article, he's not quite there yet.