Michael Legge: What A Shame

Review by Bernard O'Leary | 10 Aug 2012

If you've ever wondered what a half-time talk from Alex Ferguson is like, go see Michael Legge. It's lucky that he abandons the microphone for this show, because the hairdryer treatment combined with an amplifier would result in quite a few burst eardrums.

Legge is a lightning rod for humiliation and frustration. Seriously, the things that happen to this man are somewhere between Requiem For A Dream and The Book Of Job. Few people on this Earth have had to chat to their mum while covered in someone else's vomit (having previously texted their mother by accident to say they want to "fuck your guts out").

But it's okay, because the despair and shame of Legge's life has given him a certain freedom. He knows he'll never be cool, he knows he'll never be Dave Gorman, so he's free to do what he likes, like exacting a mildly psychotic revenge on a Twitter troll.

The man is hilarious and barking mad. This is a superb hour of comedy which invites us to both laugh at and laugh with Legge. Afterwards you'll feel like giving him a hug. But you won't, for fear that something incredibly embarrassing might happen to both of you.

Michael Legge: What A Shame, The Stand, until 26 Aug (not 13), 3.30pm, £8/£7 http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/michael-legge-what-a-shame