Lee Fenwick: Geoff The Entertainer

Review by Barrie Morgan | 17 Aug 2012

This is Geoff. And Geoff's an entertainer. There's singing and dancing, haphazardly hilarious ghost tours and even a brief game of chess. Is there nothing Geoff can't do? Well, apart from get a job and have a shower?

Fenwick's Geoff is instantly likable. He bursts on stage and warms the crowd up nicely with his enthusiasm and verve. He genuinely seems to have more joy in his life than most and obviously prefers to showcase his often shambolic comedic skills than to balance upside down with his head in the bucket like the original homeless entertainer on Princes Street. The character is fun to spend an hour with but Fenwick fails to plunge the depths with Geoff, meaning he comes across as a little too two-dimensional.He never appears too much like a caricature but he nudges that line slightly.

The laugh rate is high and the atmosphere jovial with the aforementioned ghost tour an undoubted highlight. In a seemingly impromptu act, Geoff gathers the entire audience to give them a tour of Stand III and IV, a venue with absolutely no history when compared to practically every other building in Edinburgh. Fenwick has a pretty solid basis for quite a substantial character here, pointing promisingly towards the future.

Lee Fenwick: Geoff The Entertainer, The Stand III & IV, 21:20, £8.00/£7.00 http://www.thestand.co.uk/fringe/show/51/Lee-Fenwick-Geoff-the-Entertainer