Andy Field @ Pleasance Courtyard

Silly and surreal fun with Andy Field

Review by Jenni Ajderian | 11 Aug 2017

A decent comedy show doesn’t need a dramatic arc or a seamless structure, and the Andy Field Experience is proof of this. With a simple series of slides on a screen, Field explains puns he has come up with and tells us disconnected stories from his life, plays with his own rules and laughs at himself constantly. All of which feels very strange and incongruous, and makes us giggle away at the dislocated brevity of it all. Never taking himself seriously, Field invites us in to chuckle at his misadventures with drugs, festivals and bodily fluids, with a scatterbrained approach to comedy and maybe to life in general.

Having set up a purely silly, slightly smutty backdrop, Field can turn to serious subjects and show heart and care while never dwelling in sobriety for too long. He trips back into levity almost by accident, and by this point we’re already used to him shrugging off everything he’s just said, so he can move from discussing cancer and self-care back into stories of shitting himself with practiced ease. A great show for an escape to the surreal, and laughing without always knowing or caring quite why.


Andy Field Experience, Pleasance Courtyard (The Cellar), until 27 Aug (not 16), 9.45pm, £7.50-10

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-fringe/comedy