Josh Thomas, creator of the brilliant sitcoms ‘Please Like Me’ and ‘Everything’s Going to Be Okay’ has never done an Edinburgh show – although he was a finalist in So You Think You’re Funny in 2005.

 

He has a rug on stage, a plant and a comfy chair.   His thing is very much domestic drama, food, relationships, friends.

 

If you’re a fan of his sitcoms – which I am – it is amazing to hear his familiar confessional style in a live format.  Thomas lives in West Hollywood now – he plays in America to thousands – but he’s happy to be here, talking to us as if we are his very best friends.

 

His distinctive voice with its curiously elongated vowels, runs on in a kind of internal monologue made external.  Thomas, who was diagnosed with ADHD and autism nine years ago has a logical brain and a tendency to say exactly what he is thinking – and it has worked out very well for him as a comedy device.

 

His show is the story of a break up, of moving continents, of a pet dog that died and a recurrent problem with tidying his room.  He’s brilliant on the conspiracy of objects that surrounds autistic people – when moving anything creates a whole new area of distraction and takes you further and further from your end goal.

 

Tidying the room is not a metaphor – Josh doesn’t do metaphor.  But his ability to vocalise every little thought and emotion that blows across his mind is extraordinary – and you really do wind up feeling you know him.  You don’t of course – he’s pretty ruthless on that point.

 

He’s not a natural fit for Hollywood, where people have psychics and everyone is into self improvement.  Josh doesn’t really believe in self improvement.  People stay pretty much the same, he reckons, it’s just a matter of learning to live with it.  If you and your thoughts can co-exist in harmony life can be good.

 

As a stand up Thomas has a completely distinct style.  He doesn’t go for platitudes, he stays away from politics.  But his minute observation of himself and the way he moves through life is a joyful thing.

 

Josh Thomas is insanely loveable – and he knows it.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person flirt with the audience so much.  He twirls around, he twiddles his hair, he overshares and we love him for it.

 

People are not laughing and cheering as much as they do in America he says.  But it doesn’t bother him at all.  He’s here, in the room with us and it feels intimate and special to listen to his innermost thoughts crafted into a beautiful flow of exceptional stand up.

 

 

Until August 25. Tickets here.

 

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