Mat Ewins: Actually Can I Have Eight Tickets Please?

• Yasmin Sulaiman
• 5 August 2019

More brilliant nonsense from former Comedy Award nominee

First things first, Mat Ewins does not look like the picture next to this review. Or the photos on his website. He gets those from his favourite site, Shutterstock, in a long-running joke that's confounded some journalists at the Fringe for some years. Subeditors: now you know.

It's typical of Ewins' anarchic comic style to keep such an inane gag running for so long. That it continues to be funny is testament to his talent and his ability to make sublime jokes out of the truly ridiculous, with a little help from Adobe After Effects. This year's show takes on everything from Fleshlights and fire-exit signs to the bad video games which Ewins made himself. For most of the show, it's literally one laugh after another, and while a few technical hitches bring the pace down a little, Ewins recovers quickly (even if he does self-consciously refer to 'The List reviewer' a little too often.

Since his Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination in 2017, Ewins has broken out of his cult following to become a must-see in August. This year's show is more brilliant nonsense, which will likely win over a few hundred extra devotees before the month is over.

Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £8–£9 in advance or donations at the venue.