Brendon Burns review - SkinnyFest
| 14 Aug 2006
More Bambi than Rambo, Brendon Burns's dark savagery is tempered by his marshmallow heart - in his own words, "a painfully intelligent man trapped inside a stupid man's knowledge". He runs us through his stint in The Priory after his drink, drugs and sex addiction. It's been seven months since he's had any illicit substances, and this has quietened him down somewhat. No shit. Well, some. His own personal bedroom dirty protest attests to this.
Burns thought he'd surface from the glamorous Priory "buff as fuck" but, after being the highest in the class and receiving equine therapy, he emerges a bit dull. His cosy relationship with the audience ensures their sympathy to his plight. The non-rehab stuff's best, though, such as the marketing of the Ten Commandments and the sexually off-putting Scouse accent. His fellow comics provide rich material, too. Ed Byrne has never been as funny and we now know why Simon Munnery is useless in a fight. The bigots' heaven is also a high point. Plus, Brendon has a new catchphrase involving a big disease with an insipid name.
[Tommy Mackay]
Burns thought he'd surface from the glamorous Priory "buff as fuck" but, after being the highest in the class and receiving equine therapy, he emerges a bit dull. His cosy relationship with the audience ensures their sympathy to his plight. The non-rehab stuff's best, though, such as the marketing of the Ten Commandments and the sexually off-putting Scouse accent. His fellow comics provide rich material, too. Ed Byrne has never been as funny and we now know why Simon Munnery is useless in a fight. The bigots' heaven is also a high point. Plus, Brendon has a new catchphrase involving a big disease with an insipid name.
[Tommy Mackay]
Brendon Burns: Sober Not Clean, Pleasance Dome, until August 28 (not 18), 20:30, and August 11-12, 19, 25-26, 22:40, £12/£11 (£11/£10).