Ivo Graham @ Pleasance Courtyard

Ivo Graham's sublime first half fizzles out in the second

Review by Tony Makos | 16 Aug 2017

Ivo Graham makes it look ridiculously easy for the first 20 minutes of his set. Great audience rapport, solid improvisational technique – this is slick, well rehearsed stand up without an inch of fat on it, and most importantly it’s funny too. Graham’s self-mocking posh boy shtick goes down extremely well. He's never apologetic about his upbringing and has some excellent material about holidays with his parents and boarding school idiosyncracies. A section about appearing on the Weakest Link might be the centrepiece of a lesser comedian’s set, and Graham appears to pick the comedy bones of that story dry with ruthless efficiency.

Then we hit the back half of the show. The anecdotes become drier and the energy is lost somewhat when we get to witness Graham’s acquired skill at reciting MPs and their constituencies on demand from the audience, a routine reminiscent of a bad You Bet segment. As we leave we are then shown the quiz show footage that we already know everything about, adding nothing to the overall story.


Ivo Graham: Educated Guess, Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath), until 27 Aug (not 14), 8.15pm, £7.50-11