Simon Munnery's AGM09

A regular performer at the Fringe since 1994, Simon Munnery is legendary for his particular brand of comedy, taking the audience on an unpredictable and often surreal journey in a soft, lilting voice and with the occasional bucket appearing on his head.

This year he continues his AGM format, where the audience is invited to submit suggestions during the show for consideration. Munnery appears on stage and slurs gently through a pre-show preamble, discussing Switzerland’s propensity for unnecessary signposting and a run-in with a walker’s dog outside his home. If this seems like an unlikely jump in subject matter — well, it is. Munnery meanders through anecdotes without seeming to know where he is going. Yet following him on this journey through the unexpected is strangely pleasing, as he draws the audience in with a bizarre mixture of stand-up, short film clips and musical interludes with his accompanying drummer, Mac.

The format of the show gives it an engaging twist, although in this performance only two audience suggestions are read out and neither are given much time. The audience is then invited over the road to a pub in order to ponder the other submissions, but again Munnery only has time to flick through a few ideas before slouching off to his next gig.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes his show so enjoyable. It is unstructured, unpolished, and there are only a few moments when the audience laughs out loud. But it remains the perfect marker of a good Fringe show: surprising, spontaneous and memorable.