Eddie Pepitone: RIP America, It's Been Fun

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Eddie Pepitone walks into his gig through the same door as his audience. He could be just another punter, obscured by a hat and scarf. Intentional or not, it’s fitting for someone who would like, one assumes, to be considered to speak for the swathes ofpeople who he says have been washed up by the corporate tide..

The tone for the show is set by the portly 55-year-old American asking us to clap our hands for ever more desperate and existential notions. We’re not asking enough questions, he says, we’re not feeling deeply enough, we’re distracted by what he calls ‘Gelato Syndrome’, where comforts blot out the pain of existence. It’s a theme that was evident in his Fringe debut two years ago, but while that was obscured by anti-comedy, this show is a more direct exploration and exposition of the concept.

The toothy comic presents various subversions; an ad for BP that comes clean about their global intentions; a mentally ill person allowed to address the crowd at a World Cup final to raise awareness; a re-imagining of a sponsored Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.

Unsurprisingly, there is a split between those who think all this to be a laugh riot and those who may consider it a reason to riot. However, some of the imagery, such as testing out whether Tesco really do care about their customers by asking to have a lie down in one of the aisles, is irresistible.