It is going to be hard for reviewers to write about Norwegian Ingrid Dahle without mentioning another Scandanavian comic who broke through on the Fringe this year. But I'll do my best. Dahle’s general schtick is highlighting some of the ridiculousness she has encountered in the UK. In places she was very good, but her material needs to be more consistent. When she did a joke about learning English from watching our chat shows I expected she was going to be taking the piss out of Jonathan Ross’s speech impediment. Instead she embarked on a Jeremy Kyle routine – Kyle’s show isn’t really a chat show though.
Elsewhere a riff about class did little more than pick out class differences which have been noted endlessly and her punchline was not strong enough to justify the easy set-up. But Dahle does have a showstopping finale which will always work for her. It would spoil the surprise to give too much away. Let’s just say she gets maximum value out of a £5 stretchy garment from Primark.
Benji Waterstones is becoming a familiar face on the comedy finals circuit, which suggests that he is on the cusp of getting a break, but not tonight. His slightly posh, slightly whimsical style did not hit the spot at first and by the time he hit his stride and started to get bigger laughs when he talked about being a trainee doctor/psychiatrist by day it was too late to make up the lost ground.
One got the feeling that thanks to his job his material wrote itself – such as when he told the the story of someone who had overdosed on 99 Paracetomol. They bought 100 but wouldn’t eat the one they dropped on the floor. There is nothing wrong with drawing on your day job for inspiration, Waterstones just needs to use it as a jumping-off point rather than the end product.
And finally to Sophie Willan (pictured). The last spot is traditionally a tough one in comedy competitions, but there have been a few occasions recently where last has come first and this was another. Willan is a quirky comic who has both a winning, easy-going style – imagine echoes of Sarah Millican and Jason Manford – but also a strong back story to draw on, having a heroin addicted mother.
Like Benji Waterstones, Willan also just talked about herself, but her anecdotes were vivid, gripping and very funny, as she recalled being home-schooled or maybe not schooled at all when she was young, describing herself as “Mowgli with a mullet”.
Her stories about the lengths her mother went to to score crack would have been funny if they were fictional. The fact that they rang true gave Willan’s set added emotional punch. Sometimes when judging one has to decide whether you are looking for the act with the most talent or the act who simply got the most laughs. The verdict was easy for me tonight. Willan came first on both scores and justifiably walked away with the £1000 prize.
