2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Andy Zaltzman review
Peter Cook to John Oliver's Dudley Moore, Andy Zaltzman seems happy enough to be in an Edinburgh basement on a Thursday afternoon, rather than, say, in New York writing material for The Daily Show, as Oliver presumably is. Well, you can't make gags about cricket, violent Dutch midfielders or the Spanish national team's superior youth set-up in the States. So, really, who needs it?
Zaltzman is clearly in his element down here, with a healthy crowd hanging on his every carefully thought-out word. As devotees of his weekly podcast with Oliver will know, the curly comic does love a convoluted bit of wordplay, and issues a mock warning early on about the forthcoming onslaught of painful similes. He doesn't disappoint.
Best-known as a political comic, Zaltzman heads into more personal territory for the first chunk of this new show. It's a superbly self-deprecating account of his enforced attempt at being a midwife, when Mrs Zaltzman selfishly interrupted the cricket by going into labour at home. Telephone advice from a real midwife was briefer than he'd hoped - "don't drop it" - but thankfully years of cricket-watching helped, and he pulled off a Paul Collingwood rather than a Monty Panesar.
The rest of the set is more traditional Zaltzman - current affairs, including lashings of sporting references. The general theme is 'truth' and he covers numerous bases, including some up-to-date material on the anniversary of the release of the Lockerbie bomber, which is also geographically relevant given that the decision to release him was taken just up the road.
This is a finely-crafted set, and tightly-plotted: early on he messes up a joke and has to go back and start it again, as he needs the punchline to move on to the next item. And it still gets a big laugh. His gags are often devilishly clever, (usually) perfectly-timed, and often bitingly satirical. Young comics could do worse than watch this master-craftsman go about his business.
Andy Zaltzman: Swears To Tell The Truth, The Half Truth And Everything But The Truth listing
