Jordan Brookes @ Pleasance Courtyard
Jordan Brookes may have gone somewhat back to basics in his new show, but his comedy is just as brilliant as ever
After 2024's showstopper (or at least his deconstruction of a showstopper) Fontanelle, which was a full-cast, musical theatre affair, Brookes has stripped things back to basics in this year's show.
Built around an inconsequential encounter on a train, it might seem a slight matter after the ambition of Fontanelle, but this show is perhaps rather a deliberate kind of reduction, or even an abstraction. Admittedly, Brookes' work does invite all kinds of overwrought interpretation, but here the essential stand-up elements of anecdote, structure, and crowd work seem both negligible and yet renewed. If the stabbing stings on the soundtrack that punctuates proceedings offer structure (and an galvanising mechanism) then it ultimately comes to nothing, but Brookes digs deep into the weird extra layer it creates. The central anecdote may be determinedly trivial, but it prompts big questions about selfhood and performance (and the portraits of Brookes alone in front of his computer are remarkable pieces of physical comedy). And in terms of the crowd work – well, it's often seemingly careless, but not always, and that unpredictability ensures the atmosphere in the room is nothing short of electric.
It's perhaps the refining of Jordan Brookes' approach over time that's brought him here – there's consolation in the insights about personhood but it's countered by his volatility as well as those stings, in a combination of menace and intimacy that seems very specific to his comedy. That mix ensures we're off-balance, and makes for a sense that genuinely anything could happen. Back to basics, perhaps, but just as brilliant as before.
Jordan Brookes: The Part of You That's Always Screaming, Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome), until 30 Aug, 9.45pm, £16.50-£19.50