David Whitney: Struggling to Evolve

Struggling to Evolve is an hour of late-night blue material loosely held together by our primal urges.

Starting slow with some generic observations on banking security, Whitney gradually ramps up the smut. This is unreconstructed caveman stuff, rammed with the kind of sexual titbits mates share in the pub. That said, it is elevated by Whitney’s way with a one-liner and, when he hits his peak, he can be very funny indeed.

The show’s title gets some lip-service in a couple of moments where Whitney confronts his roots. Born in Aberdeen but with an English accent, this bagpipe playing Londoner briefly debates issues of identity. One of the more interesting sections details Whitney’s arrest for head-butting a heckler at the Fringe 2010. Seemingly genuinely distraught over his violent impulse, Whitney unfortunately backs off the subject before it gets too interesting.

He is solidly entertaining, particularly for a tipsy crowd, but both he and the audience run out of energy about two thirds of the way through. He has a self-congratulatory habit of believing he’s being cleverer than he is, but really it’s the lack of variety that wears. Near the end he hazards some topical, semi-political gags, which apparently he is trying to ‘evolve’ into and, when they fall flat, he admits to being more comfortable with filthy material, red in tooth and claw. One hopes Whitney can make the evolutionary leap, because as it stands his show is nasty, brutish and short.