Ed Night @ Monkey Barrel
Your Old Mucker is an hour of solid gold gags from the incomparably offbeat Ed Night
In the very loosest sense, Your Old Mucker explores Ed Night’s identity as a Londoner, compared to his Granddad who witnessed the Blitz as a kid. A peculiar character, he held several jobs including as a chef in a nightclub with a bizarre range of flagship dishes, and offered very banal answers about everything else (as we hear in audio clips of Night Snr being interviewed by a bunch of schoolkids). If you’re looking hard enough, you could definitely draw a line between his and his grandson’s offbeat insights.
But loose it is – in a Fringe hour with little throughline, you’ve got to be confident in your writing. Fortunately, Night’s jokes are some of the sharpest, drollest gags at the whole festival. There’s just something about the combination of his offhand delivery with the peculiar angles from which he chooses to attack life that is gut-bustingly funny. Particularly memorable are his lines about knowing a guy in the audience from his work, his ways to save money on rent, and a unique twist on Steve Irwin’s exploits as The Crocodile Hunter.
After a long hiatus, Night returned to the Fringe last year and follows that return with another superb hour. A singular talent who very much deserves a place on everyone’s must-see list, he has absolutely perfected who he is on stage and his punchlines are forever fresh. With jokes and presence like this, it is absolutely no surprise Your Old Mucker was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. We hope to see him again next year.
Ed Night: Your Old Mucker, Monkey Barrel at the Hive (Hive 1), run ended