Bratchy: Fear, Loathing and Lost Wages

Tonight’s offering from Glaswegian Bratchy was a joyous outing for the entire family; well the Bratchpiece family anyway. Introduced by his Dad Mark, also a stand-up comedian, Bratchy points out his Mum would be holding her head in her hands somewhere in the audience too. But it is his little brother, otherwise known as Youtube star The Wee Man, who takes a key role in tonight’s proceedings with a surprise Britain’s Got Talent finale.

Musing on the loss of youth and surrendering to adulthood, 33-year-old Bratchy, a skinny self-confessed Mackenzie Crook look-alike, appears as a weathered party veteran. His Glaswegian anecdotes on jakeys, drugs and school-banned sweeties strike a chord with the local portion of the crowd but are lost on the European revellers. Bratchy is an affable chap and keen to connect with his audience, but his nerves often take hold and he loses his pace, filling the time with incomprehensible utterances.

An absurd sketch with his younger brother playing a life-size ventriloquist dummy brings the evening to a bizarre close, highlighting the divergence in performance styles of the duo. While The Wee Man’s delivery is unabashed and glossier than his brother’s, Bratchy maintains an appealing, unrefined quality that just needs a little fine-tuning.