Comedy Review: Andrew O'Neill: We Are Not in the Least Afraid of Ruins..., Liquid Room Annexe, Edinburgh

Andrew O'Neill's new show presents a whole new side of him.
Has Andrew O'Neill been abducted by aliens?Has Andrew O'Neill been abducted by aliens?
Has Andrew O'Neill been abducted by aliens?

Andrew O'Neill: We Are Not in the Least Afraid of Ruins..., Liquid Room Annexe, Edinburgh ****

There are several possible explanations for this show: 1, Andrew O’Neill has been abducted by aliens and replaced with a near perfect replica who has Here Comes the Sun as his walk-on music, seems not to notice the lack of thrash metal in the show and sings a song about magpies. This show, he tells us, is about hope; 2, Andrew O’Neill has an identical twin who is, thank goodness, an excellent comic but whose style is heavy on ridiculous wordplay involving racists, cowboys and Robert Smith of The Cure, lists of surreal new hobbies and outlandish Cub Scout badges; 3, Andrew O’Neill has been spliced with Mark Thomas and is now given to impassioned flights of fury at the way we are treating our world, the ‘bullshit binary’ messages from the media and how we need to understand, no matter what the adverts say, that we already have enough.

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I like this Andrew O’Neill. He feels freshly minted and honest. He could do with a hand with his tech but this is a first show and he is out there in front of a full crowd who are possibly expecting heavy metal, cross-dressing and the occult.

There are so many ideas in this hour that perhaps they do not all get the attention that they should but that will even itself out. He is dealing with a lot here. And in quite a different style. This is going to shake down into something great. He asks if we will spread the word about “the good bits”. So I am.

Until 25 August

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