Phil Ellis @ Monkey Barrel
Phil Ellis follows up his award-nominated show with a lunchtime hour loaded with electric late night chaos
Phil Ellis has had a very good year. He was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2023 AND he’s moved out of an eight-person flat share. You can just smell the success coming off him and his brand-new-with-tags George at Asda suit.
Thanks to his success, Ellis can now afford a hype man; all gold-capped, soundboard-armed and yokel-drawling. The gimmick’s a bit jarring at first, almost stopping the room in its tracks, but as he becomes evermore part of the show, you realise Ellis has done it again. As well as deploying some deliberately mistimed sound effects (Austin Powers and gunshots being the go-to options), Hype-man’s ‘viral’ filming of Ellis ripping a (very specific if you’re in the know) comedy club a new one is wheezingly funny.
Ellis’ chaos is reflected in this audience too – a man desperate to bond with Phil about his one-pan life, a woman with a hilariously shit roadkill anecdote – all adding to the eagerly boisterous energy shared in the room. There’s an electricity which you’d more commonly find at a late night weekend spot than a hangover lunchtime.
And to top it off are a slew of immaculately written gags. Some are solid bits of observation (fire alarms at his parents’), some physical comedy (carpet tiles) but all are a marvel, particularly when you think about the sheer volume of jokes packed into the hour. To do that, build this atmosphere, throw in gimmicks like the hype guy and bound across the stage to a powerpoint of dogs – he leaves you in awe.
Phil Ellis is a conductor of chaos, always has been (since he won the Panel Prize for kids’ show Funz and Gamez, at least) and he revels in it, or at least the illusion of anarchy he’s created. The Fringe is much richer for his presence, turning it up a notch year on year – may the Lord of Misrule wear his crown with pride.
Phil Ellis: Come On and Take The Rest of Me, Monkey Barrel (MB4), until 25 Aug, 12.45pm, £6-10