2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Matt Green review
After his sell out run in Edinburgh last year, Matt Green is back with his third solo show. Bleeding Funny is about the embarrassing things that happen in life, with Green sharing some of his own 'mortifying' moments in this hour... well, sort of, to be honest not all the stories are top notch. I put 'mortifying' in quotes because some of Green's stories I thought were actually quite mild - much more embarrasing things have happened to me and other people I know. Green should count himself lucky if the tales he recounts are the worst things that have happened to him.
I hope he'll excuse me for saying so, but Green's slim frame and slightly nerdy haircut suggests he will have a rather meek delivery, but actually his style is very confident indeed - he has a brilliantly assured and a commanding stage presence. Oh, and now you're looking at his photo, if you're wondering where you recognise him from - as he helpfully points out in his show - yes, he is indeed the man from the Crunchy Nut adverts.
Green's material includes a story about an embarrassing incident in a loo; his attempts to play the recorder in a school production; how he feels sorry for the girls on late night TV chat-line BabeStation; and other tales. It's all faintly amusing, but there's no particularly strong standout routines here, and the laugher from the audience was more polite than loud.
The strongest part of the show was actually the non-scripted section at the start, which generated some strong laughs. Green demonstrated a lightening-quick comedy brain during this improvised section, suggesting in future he should spend more time off-script bantering with the audience and less time preparing material. One of many examples of his super-quick wit: when asking around the audience to find out people's occupations, one man mentioned he was a cabinet maker... "what, like David Cameron?" was Green's reply, quick as a flash.
In summary, a super impressive comedy brain which is perhaps better in an improv situation than trying to deliver scripted material.