Anyone who doubted, when Emo Philips was the twentysomething star of 80s comedy floorshow Saturday Live, that he could sustain his freaky, whiny voiced man-child act for a whole career is directed to the Pleasance forthwith. Philips – wheezing, squeaking Philips, with the hair of a court jester and the physical awkwardness of an embarrassed child – is still going, and strongly. This is his first Edinburgh visit since 2001, so those who've seen him elsewhere in the UK since may recognise some among the 10 years' worth of jokes he's drawing on. But when the jokes are this good, it's a delight to make their acquaintance again.
One of the secondary pleasures of watching this great gag-man perform is working out the extent to which his set is planned. There is audience interaction throughout the show, and whatever the crowd feeds him, Philips has not just a quip, but a series of humdingers to match. Mind you, he's just as funny when playing his jokers at random. Tonight, Emo addresses racism ("I like the south. But of course, I'm prejudiced"), Avatar and Christianity (he tells his recent poll-winning best religious joke of all time), while making only a tenuous effort to connect one subject to the next.
It's his one-liners that he's famous for, word and mind-bending constructions as flawless as diamonds. "I like to play chess with old men in the park. The hard part is finding 32 of them." But there are baggier gags, too – including a great dialogue between Philips and a beggar – and, more so than previously, a conversational ease that belies the social-misfit demeanour. That said, you wouldn't want this Peter Pan of comedy to come anywhere near your daughter's window. But here's hoping Philips never grows up.
