Michael McIntyre at Fringe 2008

Silly dances, it seems, are terrifically funny. So too, it seems, are funny voices, impersonations of Paul McKenna and jokes about wanking on socks. The silly dancing is the best, though. Entirely in spite of myself, I laughed a great deal indeed.

Those familiar with McIntyre’s frequent appearances on the goggle-box—Big Brother’s Little Brother, Mock the Week and The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, for instance—might argue that his humour is neither big nor clever, remaining safe enough to appear alongside, say, the sergeant major of the innocuous television corps, Jeremy Childs. On stage, however, McIntyre is absolute proof that risqué jokes don’t necessarily maketh the man. Energetic and committed, McIntyre’s stand-up is the affable, giggly work of a father of two uncovering moments of genuine delight in family life.

Of course, it doesn’t really matter that McIntyre delivers his routines about Edinburgh in a thoroughly Glaswegian accent. The choice to give Edinburgh’s super-duper new tram system the once-over is a smart one anyway – Edinburgh audiences do sometimes tire of hearing about London’s bendy buses. Less wise, perhaps, is the execution of a routine identical to one given on BBC2’s Mock The Week the night before. But that’s unlikely to change the fact that McIntyre’s run is entirely sold out. Not does it change the fact that it is actually a rather funny routine on our frantically irrational compulsion to switch off the TV before heading away on holiday: “not the fridge, though. We trust the fridge, don’t we!” Well, Michael, it seems it’s me who ought to be a little more trusting. You are welcome to an hour of my evening again anytime.

Read our review of Michael McIntyre at Fringe 2007