David Ephgrave: Now Who's a Comedian?

• Murray Robertson
• 24 August 2017

credit: Gemma Poole

Relentless and unpredictable hour of limp gags

During his show, David Ephgrave repeatedly threatens the audience that they have three more hours of his comedy ahead of them. It's a joke that works well when Tim Vine makes it after the odd laborious pun, but it really does come across as a threat here as the vast majority of Ephgrave's material is met with a gaping black hole of indifference. To be fair to him, even for a midday slot this is a very tough crowd and he's facing an uphill struggle, a battle he often wearily acknowledges.

Speaking of Vine, the king of the one-liners seems to be a big influence on Ephgrave, particularly as evidenced through his fondness of puns and daft musical stings. But he's a very, very long way from reaching the highs of his hero. Much of this is 'dad gag' quality fare, interspersed with an assortment of photos that he finds funny (the audience do not), together with the occasional PowerPoint presentation: a comedy fall-back that surely fell out of favour at least a decade ago. The relentless pace and unpredictable nature of Ephgrave's focus keeps everyone on their toes so it's never a dull hour. But neither is it funny.

Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 27 Aug, noon, £5 (£4).