Greg Proops @ Citizens Theatre, 19 Mar

Best known for his appearances on Whose Line is it Anyway?, stand-up Greg Proops brings his observations to the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. 

Somewhere between pretending to be a gun-crazy Nascar enthusiast and acting as Paul McCartney’s wingman, Greg Proops catches himself off guard with something unscripted and snorts into his microphone. This happens a few times throughout his appearance at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre and never ceases to be endearing. It may be a stereotype, but Proops is the epitome of American self-confidence.

This leads directly to a gripe, however – the first half of Proops’ show is overly concerned with clichéd observations about Scotland’s relationship with Irn-Bru, and Ireland’s obsession with potatoes. It’s a shame because he opens promisingly, portraying Glasgow as the sort of place to go when you need to keep your ego in check – where taxi drivers dress him up and down before having an epiphany: “You’re from that thing where you make stuff up... Never seen it.” The stereotypes may well be a grander statement about judgement based on nationality, but they’re laboured and fall flat.

However, it is an otherwise accomplished performance. Proops possesses an electric velocity, both physically and mentally on the move through the duration of his time on stage, and his set is rapturously received tonight. When he moves onto the current American political situation he’s irresistible, turning a topic with the sort of ubiquity we have to thank 24-hour news for into a vital address. He’s comfortable on the subject of his own white male privelege too: the peak of his set ponders whether the ancient Egyptians wolf-whistled at women from their vessels of transport. During this section, there's a glint in his eye as he talks in hieroglyphics, and a palpable sense of greatness at work.

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Further live dates can be found at gregproops.com