There seems to be a bit of a theme this year of comedians who have found their strength through contact sports.

 

For Elliot Steel it’s martial arts, which has helped him negotiate his fears and build a sense of healthy masculinity.

 

Martial arts also landed him with a serious injury – which gave him the stand out story in this very funny hour.

 

Steel’s account of his life altering hospital visit is told with skill. He stares down his mortality, shares some terrifyingly graphic detail and genuinely questions his life choices.  Apparently two people have already fainted during this section of the show.

 

While a brush with death is always a bonus for an Edinburgh Fringe hour there is a lot else to love about Steel’s show and his newfound maturity as a comic.

 

As the son of comedian Mark Steel, Elliot had a head start in the comedy stakes and landed an agent at the age of 16. His status as a ‘nepo baby’ has been a mixed blessing and one he fully acknowledges on stage.

 

Steel gets some good material from the left-wing enclave of his childhood. And in a revelation that will surprise no one, he acknowledges that comedians don’t always make the most attentive parents.

 

There’s a lot of love in his descriptions of his upbringing.  And, as he now sees a younger generation of comics developing he has a very original take on the way ideas and conventions develop between different generations.

 

Although the show is pacy and full of big laughs it also shows a willingness to admit the vulnerability behind all kinds of laddish behaviour.

 

I wasn’t wild about his tales about taking drugs in Vegas, but much of the audience loved his indiscreet tales of wild adventure and famous friends.

 

Having said that, this is a show to be proud of. It’s pacy, funny and full of ideas.  Steel’s observations are genuinely original and he works them into very clever material.

 

In podcasts he often plays on his ignorance and lack of education but as a comic, make no mistake about it, he is very smart indeed.