Tim FitzHigham: Challenger

It’s fairly disconcerting to sit in a dank, inflatable igloo awaiting a man who is clearly hiding behind a projector screen. However, as a veteran of the Fringe, Tim FitzHigham is certainly no stranger to these oddities. It seems strange then, that this year he struggles to find a confident voice within a set that rarely ever arrives at a point, instead choosing to meander its way though a barrage of information without ever realising its comic potential. 

Challenges are the focus as FitzHigham has, for years, made demands on his body that really are baffling. He is something of a superhero, albeit with pretty pointless powers. Nonetheless, stories of crossing the Channel in a paper boat, standing on one leg for 12 hours or running up volcanos are certainly interesting, but they are definitely not funny.

FitzHigham wastes numerous opportunities to find the hilarity in a situation and instead opts for a few lame puns, some painfully drawn-out audience interaction, and a noncommittal use of PowerPoint which lacks imagination. He is instead simply going through the motions and it feels almost criminal to throw away feats of such physical bravery and quirkiness by drowning the stories in verbosity. The show appears to run off the philosophy that if you talk quickly enough, no one will have the time to notice that barely a chuckle has crept out of them. FitzHigham attempts makes the most of listening ears but rarely escapes the temptation for self-indulgence.