Unfortunately Joz Norris was unavailable yesterday. He was having a bath and was replaced by the false-bearded Mr Fruit Salad, a hopelessly ill-prepared amateur who is about as suitable for stand-up as a clown is to oversee a funeral.
That is the essential conceit of Joz Norris Is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad. Our hapless ad hoc host is actually played by Norris and does his best. He even has a theme tune. If only he can find it.
This is not for Live at the Apollo fans. In the same way that drug addicts need increasingly stronger hits, Mr Fruit Salad is for comedy connoisseurs who need more hardcore humour fixes.
Along the way there are joyously silly moments reminiscent of top absurdist John Kearns, such as the Marx Bros-style knockabout with sidekick Ben Target. Sometimes, though, proceedings resemble an anti-stand-up in-joke.
Until the end, that is, when Norris pulls it together by explaining how Mr Fruit Salad is his way of facing the world, and how we need to be kind.
It’s impossible to fault the closing message but if your concept of comedy is Michael McIntyre’s man drawer, this may utterly flummox you.
Until Aug 25 (0131 226 0000, edfringe.com)
