Aidan Bishop: No Sissy Stuff Review

Aidan Bishop introduces his late night show as an exploration of his masculinity without any “sissy stuff.” What follows is a show with a lot of potential, let down by its material and in need of some tightening. The jokes are centred around the theme of masculinity – in reality, an excuse to trot out unoriginal riffs on the differences between men and women, presented as tips for bachelors on how to seduce girls.

For the most part, it's fairly standard observational humour, thoroughly enjoyed by the tipsy and good-natured audience. However, the material feels incredibly dated (Women have mood swings! Men think about sex all the time!) - at best a bit tired, at worst sexist. It's a shame, as Bishop has an engaging stage presence and flashes of irreverence and irony which, carefully applied, could do a lot for his show. Whenever he steps away from the stereotypes he is much funnier, and is best served by jokes about his New York City upbringing and by his occasional bursts of manic energy – halfway through the show he decides the room is too hot and doles out flyers to use as fans whilst attempting to shout the temperature down by proclaiming it to be freezing.

But these interludes are much too short and Bishop soon slips back into his old ways. By putting aside the punchlines and searching around for some fresh ideas, No Sissy Stuff could mature into a really funny show – but it's not quite there yet.