Mark Nelson: Under the Radar

• Murray Robertson
• 11 August 2012

This article is from 2012.

Photo: Leslie Black

The formerly vicious comic's new attitude results in moments of profound hilarity

Mark Nelson may be going soft. When he first launched onto the scene, winning the inaugural Scottish Comedian of the Year competition in 2006, his more barbed quips could have made Frankie Boyle wince. Now just into his thirties and settled down, Nelson is less preoccupied with exploring taboos and more concerned with renovating his home.

That’s not to say he’s lost his bite entirely. Just as he seems to be coasting about the Edinburgh Zoo pandas, minimum pricing or Weight Watchers, out of nowhere will come something so profoundly hilarious that it hits the room like a bomb. And he’s not lost his edge when it comes to engaging the front row, able to craft precise returns no matter what the audience throws at him.

He admits he has no theme, and there are times when the self-confessed mundanity of his settled life causes the mood to dip. But it all builds up to a sublime gag about conception that leaves his audience in raptures.

Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 26 Aug, 6.40pm, £10--£11 (£9--£10).