Darren Harriott @ Pleasance Courtyard

Darren Harriott is on the brink of being a household name, and rightly so. He’s been on every celebrity quiz show known to man, hosted Live at the Apollo, regular guest spots on Love Island Aftersun, and now, he’s back at the Edinburgh Fringe with Roadman, an hour of self-discovery, history and hilarity.

Harriott grew up in the Black Country, with aspirations of becoming a ‘roadman’. For the uninitiated, a ‘roadman’ is a young man, usually part of a gang, and usually sells drugs. They have a reputation of hardness, of being mean. It’s obvious that Harriott was always going to fail at being a ‘roadman’, so friendly his demeanour. But it took him until the protests-turned-riots-turned-lootings of 2011 to realise that the ‘roadman’ life was not for him (he sat them out).

In the years since, Harriott has turned his hand to plenty of other pursuits. Luckily for us, his most successful one has been his comedy career. During Roadman, it’s obvious why; Harriott is utterly endearing. His earnestness means that any jokes that may not land would still evoke some kind of positive reaction (all his jokes do land, by the way). It’s impressive to watch. This is a diverse crowd, age-wise, but Harriott has everyone hanging on his every word. 

There are snippets of family history woven throughout the material, including an almost-harrowing event involving his grandfather (the original roadman) and his grandfather’s best friend. These moments are expertly balanced with Harriott’s giddiness; he delivers stories, be they absurd or borderline banal, with an unwavering enthusiasm that leaves the crowd enamoured and eager for more. Harriott divulges that in his quest to discover more about himself – to learn about the things that he may have missed out on in his formative years – he has taken up dancing and drinking wine. The crowd are in full support – as long as he continues to tell us about them, in his trademark hilarious way, we’ll be happy.

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Darren Harriott: Roadman, Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath), until 27 Aug, 7.40pm, £12-14