Russell Kane

Stars of Russell Kane’s size rarely bother with the Fringe. They’ve done their time; earned the right to bypass comedy’s demented summer trade fair. But Kane is a rare breed, a comedian who genuinely revels in Edinburgh’s critical heat, who savours its insatiable demand for new writing.  

This year Kane sets out to tackle parenthood, and specifically his own worries about failing to become a father. Visualising this fear, he proceeds to give birth to a metaphorical son, Ivan, and then raise him to manhood over the course of the hour. Ivan’s invisible presence is a clever narrative device and allows Kane to reflect on his own haphazard childhood – a veritable comic goldmine of scatological tales and sibling persecution. Through Ivan, Kane is also able to outline his own vision for parenthood, a fascinating ideological blueprint that encompasses both the ‘unfussiness’ of his working class roots and the intellectual curiosity he first satiated at university. As always, issues of class are never far away, and Kane’s strength remains his ability to hone in on the sharp edges of social hierarchy. No group is safe here, and his caricatures of British parenting styles are both funny and razor-sharp.

Kane started his run in the Ballroom, but the acoustics were dreadful. The room simply couldn’t deal with his lightning delivery and the punchlines bounced off the walls, reaching different people at different times and inducing fractured Mexican waves of laughter to break out around the room  After a handful of disastrous gigs Kane lobbied for a room change and tonight in the bigger, more straightforward, surroundings of The Music Hall he cuts a completely different figure. Visibly relaxed, he skips and shimmies around the enormous stage, his comic rhythm restored, the depth of his writing finally given the space to breathe.    

Posturing Delivery doesn't quite hit the heights of Kane's previous shows.  Sound issues or not, the narrative lacks the sociological insight or critical edge of the comedy award-winning, Smokescreens and Castles. But what the show lacks in satire it makes up for in charm and energy. Kane remains a consummate comic headliner. His commitment to accessible yet thought-provoking standup is admirable and exciting, and the Fringe is only better for it.