It’s a common complaint among comedians that Edinburgh shows require not just jokes but emotional disclosure. So where does that leave Darren Harriott, an introvert who struggles to express emotion and, aged 30, has never been in love? On the Comedy awards shortlist, that’s where. This black British standup from the Black Country (who opens strong with jokes about that identity) has been nominated for Good Heart Yute, tracing the prehistory of his stunted emotional life.
We get an explanation for it early on. He grew up in a macho world, his mum neither hugged nor said she loved him – and, having been an obese teenager, he has a fear of rejection based on bitter experience. Harriott elicits coos of sympathy by describing playground games of kiss chase in which he did neither, and visits to the teen nightclub where he mistook an entanglement with a door handle for a longed-for romantic approach.
This is the most engaging section of a show that later devolves into more generic standup: about gender education in schools, race and environmentalism and his grandad’s seduction techniques. Harriott is a likable host, but the line of his thinking isn’t always clear and occasionally leads up blind alleys. There are some clunking segues and weak punchlines – such as the idea that as a hay fever sufferer he needn’t care about the environment; or his soft spot for bigotry that comes with a catchy rhyme attached.
But there’s big-hitting material, too: a surprising take on Liam Neeson’s vigilantism; a choice gag about drill music and criminality. It’s a solid standup set, in short, with an emotional undertone that the chronic introvert probably deserves an award for revealing.
Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, until 25 August.
.png?w=600)
