Tom Taylor: Is the Indie Feel-Good Hit of the Summer

• Lauren McKay
• 23 August 2019

This article is from 2019

credit: Steve Ullathorne

Quickfire one-liners and endearing songs fill a pleasing hour

Tom Taylor lets the audience know exactly what they can expect from his show right from the start. There's no overarching theme, no sad bits and no politics; this is just an hour of jokes and songs. When almost every stand-up show at the Fringe comes with a side-helping of morality, it's refreshing to see an hour of comedy without an agenda.

From then on in, Taylor doesn't stop. He shoots out one-liner after one-liner, some of which are accompanied by music, and some which aren't. Perhaps inevitably when there are so many gags crammed into an hour, some are a hit with the audience, while others don't quite land. But that's perfectly OK, and Taylor doesn't dwell on it; he just cracks on with the next quickfire gag.

Taylor is best when he's playing around with language. His puns and wordplay get an equal number of groans as they do laughs, and the sheer number of them makes you wonder what the inside of his head must look like. Taylor is endearing and hugely likeable, with a slightly nervous stage presence that could be part of his schtick. Even when the quips don't manage to work, the audience is on his side across a very enjoyable hour.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug, 6pm, £10 (£9).