Neil Hickey: Escape Artist

• Brian Donaldson
• 16 August 2013

This article is from 2013.

Irish newcomer's nerves undermine his bags of obvious potential

Clearly running on an abundance of nerves, Irish debutante Neil Hickey initially looks like he’d love to play the title role of his show (Escape Artist) and bolt from this small venue. A pre-entrance visual gag hasn’t gone down as well as he thought it would and neither have his opening gambits, but soon things pick up and Hickey makes a steady recovery.

Once he has settled down, there is some nice material in there such as his observations of the local youth on his home patch (though he’s barely a grown-up himself) and his deconstructive exploration of the phrase ‘it’s always the quiet ones’. This debut hour is not the most comfortable experience for the act or his audience, but there is definitely plenty of potential in Neil Hickey and once he gets more experience under his belt, he could well be one to watch in the not too distant future.

Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 26 Aug, 3.15pm, £7.50–£9 (£6.50–£8).