Phil Nichol: RANTS!

Review by Kate Russell | 15 Aug 2012

For a man who is apparently furious about pretty much everything, Phil Nichol sure is a lovely bloke. This is his first sell-out night and he’s thrilled, chatting and joking and building a connection with the audience as we settle in to our seats.

It’s a full on, non-stop, high energy hour. Nichol leaves the stage, adopts game-face, and comes back to begin his ‘serious’ series of tirades... and messes up his first line spectacularly. We’re all on side, though, and it gets a huge laugh. This becomes a recurring theme; he even comes close to falling off the stage at one point, and he makes it hilarious.

Nichol rants on pretty much everything –  from the amount of choice we have to Americans, terrorism to queuing. He never lets up in the energy stakes, bounding around and putting the full force of his vocals into everything he says. And boy, do we love him for it – he has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.

The ending of tonight’s show is apparently improvised because he forgot the last bit, but we’d never have known if he hadn’t told us. Nichol is absolutely born to perform, and the show is brilliant fun.

Phil Nichol: Rants!, Assembly Rooms, until 26 Aug, 9pm, £10/£9 http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/phil-nichol-rants