It’s a while since I’ve heard the words ‘nonce’ and ‘paedo’ used as a punchline.

 

It’s not edgy to do this, frankly it’s old fashioned.  But there is a coterie of young-ish male comics who are convinced this sort of transgressive hackery will make them the next big thing.

 

Stachini, a former teacher of naughty children who has now decided to become a comic has come straight from the clubs into his first Edinburgh show - and it’s a mismatch.

 

He complains about his audience not laughing enough.  But faced with a more middle class, middle aged audience than he’s used to he needs to learn to adapt - not blame the crowd.

 

It’s a shame because he does have some interesting stories to tell.  Stachini has recently made the leap from teaching to comedy - and you can feel the burning ambition and commitment to his new craft.

 

He’s also just left a long term relationship and is trying to make some sort of half-arsed point about following your dreams by dumping your girlfriend.

 

There’s far too much casual misogyny in all this.  There are throwaway comments about women’s appearance which you might get away with on a northern club night but which are shown up in all their ugliness in this environment.

 

Even his descriptions of his own parents come across as a bit mean-minded.  I’m sure Stachini is a lovely man and a loving son - but his pursuit of laughs has made him a bit shallow.

 

The religious material - which he’s so convinced of he’s made a tote bag as merch - is a shot at bad taste comedy which just comes across as childish and superficial.

 

He gets a bit of mileage out of the former kids he used to teach - but falls flat when he starts fantasising that one of them will become a serial killer and then he will know someone famous.  Really Harry?

 

Young men like Harry Stachini need to stop trying to be ‘dangerous’.  Unless he wants to attract a bunch of bone-headed Andrew Tate fans this is a comedy cul de sac.

 

Yes comedy is by nature transgressive, yes it takes risks - but you have to dig deeper, be more honest and learn how to adapt to be able to bring out the big laughs.

 

 

 

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