Lee Camp: Destruction! Distraction! Evolution?

American comedian stands up for an hour and complains about George Bush, Dick Cheney and American capitalism. So far, so predictable.

Yet Lee Camp is proof that even if you have the same basic material as a million other political comics, like an Afghan drone strike, it is all about the delivery. He drifts from contemporary consumer society to the problems of the globalised media and the injustices visited upon humanity daily, reveling in the absurdity of it all. Camp has a constant polemical edge, but it is directed as much at people themselves as the politicians that govern them. Using the wonders of Powerpoint he even goes to pains to prove that what he jokes about is real rather than apocryphal. It manifests itself as a peculiarly dark modern Americana.

It is also clear that Camp really believes in the show. Playing one of the Fringe’s smaller venues for a very reasonable entry price is not a fast track to a comedy fortune, but this is very much his natural habitat. He gets a sense of the mood of the room, covers his tracks seamlessly and pushes on at an unrelenting pace.

Admirably, he doesn't hesitate to attempt something totally earnest and genuine in the show’s final moments. If you want to leave with a genuine speck of hope for the future of humanity instead of misanthropic bitterness then Camp offers it. Solid, thoughtful comedy.