By Kate Copstick

Published 24th Aug 2023, 14:09 BST

Alistair Barrie: Woke in Progress ****

Hootenannies @ the Apex (Venue 108), run ended

Jerry Sadowitz proudly presents... Last Year's Show *****

Queen's Hall (Venue 72), until 25 August

It has been a strange Fringe. I have watched a couple of the most extraordinarily wonderful shows I have ever seen, playing to a handful of people, and also one of the worst and most careless insults to an audience with a full room. Thankfully, a Pay What You Want venue, but sadly, no option for them to reimburse me for my utterly wasted time.

The 'Industry' is taking over. And the Industry does things by numbers. And so comics end up in rooms that they cannot play because the numbers look better and the time slot is more impressive. There is so much that is good out there, but it is becoming ever more difficult to find unless you already know it. And going to see established acts doing what everyone already knows they do is not the point of a Fringe, surely?

Except, occasionally it is. Watching Al Barrie do comedy is like watching Fred Astaire dance. Funnier, obviously, but the look of ease, the technical excellence and the elegant, easy flow of it all are just uniquely enjoyable. Al's Woke in Progress is a beautifully crafted hour. Starting gently with his fatherhood experience (to much relieved laughter on the subject of school plays), strolling through a little politics, the positive side of rail strikes and a wonderful extrapolation on the whole 'not being able to say anything' problem faced by comics.

Al's delivery is 'iron fist in velvet glove' but it makes his points. Rishi Sunak feels the iron, as does Harry (Prince) and our failure to license parenting. Al is one of the few comics with anything good to say about China (although it might have been ironic) and has a huge admiration for the French and their more 'full on' approach to dealing with problems. His problems with ejaculation and experience of vasectomy have the bloke beside me in turmoil as to whether to laugh or wince. His relaxed, urbane delivery is a delight in these frenzied times and, even when uttering the phrase “massive f***ing capitalist” in a routine about ageing, he makes it sound sad, a little angry, but intellectually thought through. It is his superpower as a comic.

Last year, in what has now become a regular occurrence for those who 'do not align' with the various ethos of various venues (which, oddly, seems only to become apparent after someone 'feels uncomfortable' and complains) the Edinburgh Fringe started its great 'cancellation' binge. It got into full swing this year and it, and the hypocritical press statements that go with it, is an abomination.

Luckily, for those of us who were not permitted to see it, Jerry Sadowitz's Last Year's Show is back. And it is fantastic. Trigger Alert: the following paragraphs may reference something that might not align with the ideas you, personally, might have about comedy and free speech and men having a bit of a go at pretty much everything. Too bad. Do not read on.

To listen to his detractors, Jerry Sadowitz is the very antithesis of Al Barrie. Wrong. Sadowitz is one of the most skilled magicians you will ever see, and his greatest trick is being able to hurl 90 minutes of anger and frustration, loathing and invective at us and make it look like the rantings of an old bloke who looks like he came through a hedge backwards to get on stage. Music has Death Metal, film has Wes Craven and comedy has Jerry Sadowitz.

What we are watching here (thank you Queen's Hall ) is a mind-boggling and incredibly skilled display of the art and craft of stand up comedy. But you must listen and watch to see it. As when Circus Archaos juggled chainsaws, people shrieked and saw only the chainsaws. You have to look at the jugglers to see the real skill.

And there is fun here. There is great fun in transgression and Sadowitz takes transgression to places you cannot imagine. His door to door salesman in Kiev is brutal. But brilliant. Admittedly, remove all the f***s and there is a much shorter show, but he is Glaswegian, that is his language.

Sadowitz is very much an equal opportunities insulter. Pretty much everybody gets a moment in the crosshairs of his comedic machine gun. And I mean everyone. Having said which, Donald Trump (Jerry turns out to be a skilled impressionist) and Vladimir Putin, liars and dictators turn out to be a few of Jerry's favourite things.

We, the audience, are not spared, many of us personally insulted. Anyone and everyone of any kind of power in the comedy industry is lavishly loathed, others are insulted in demographic groups. The entire room roars approval at his derision for “casually curious, middle class English tossers”. Now that is a beautifully crafted insult. So many of his are. I am not going to list his hit list (in both senses of the phrase) for people to be vicariously appalled, but he very deliberately goes where others fear to tread. And uses language that others fear to use. Spoiler alert: no one dies. There is barely a single one of his 'attacks' that does not have a perceptible – albeit tiny – kernel of understandability in it, taken and spun into a furious diatribe for our entertainment and, sometimes, tagged with the kind of comment the people who 'feel uncomfortable' obviously miss. “I mean, what is racism without ignorance?” he asks. In his 90 high octane minutes he covers as much comedy ground as the rest of the Fringe put together. Of course we get a reference to last year, as he announces he will be getting his c*** out.

We get a single moment of uncharacteristic optimism. "Comedy," he says, "is the last bastion of free speech." Dream on, Jerry. But please don't change. You may be our last, best hope.

It has been a strange Fringe. Costs are astronomical. Shows are doing short runs. The integrity of the month has been broken. Who knows what it will be next year.

Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews – Alistair Barrie: Woke in Progress | Jerry Sadowitz proudly presents... Last Year's Show