About the Scots

Bruce Fummey is a comedian who would like to be considered “thoughtfully offensive.” Whilst the second word of this tag fits like a glove, he falls some way short of justifying the first. Ostensibly teaching us about Scotland, Fummey perpetuates every stereotype in the wee tartan joke book. Jokes about sheep-shagging might be fair game in the local pub, but to pay to hear them would seem obscene. It's fortunate, then, that Fummey's show is both cheap and in a pub.

It would be unfair to say this show is completely uninformative about the Scots. A third of the audience is Scottish (as is this reviewer), and the majority of them laugh loudly at gags about gay people, the disabled, the English and people from Fife. Incest is unfailingly fertile ground for gags and Fummey ploughs it relentlessly. When an audience member claims to be from Leven, quickly adding that he was an only child, Fummey’s witty response runs: “So how’s yur faither in bed?”

Sensitive about bad reviews, Fummey reads out one scribbled on the back of a crumpled envelope. If he keeps his criticism so close, perhaps he should note that “poof” is not a cover-all punch-line. This show is not so much about the Scots, as about the proportion of Scots who will laugh at outdated, blinkered humour worthy of Bernard Manning.