Comedy review: Kai Humphries: Punch-Drunk

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Geordie Kai recently got into a punch-up with his big brother.

Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14)

****

Given that they’ve always got on like the proverbial house on fire – Gav was always his protector at school and they have lived together pretty much all their lives – that’s a little surprising.

Before we find out why things turned physical, 
Humphries – a gangly lad with a grin as long as the Tyne Bridge who glows with positive vibes – tells us a bit about his life.

He recounts how his route into full-time comedy was punctuated with embarrassingly wet patches that had nothing to do with his previous job as a lifeguard; how his girlfriend stymied his best efforts at a romantic proposal; how he came across Gav’s deeply weird flowchart of personal happiness ... which he shares with the audience.

That’s not why Gav, with whom he runs the Punch-Drunk comedy club in Blyth, Northumberland, punched him.

That all comes back to a little local boy named Kian, whose only hope of surviving cancer was proton treatment in the US that would cost more than £500,000.

Cue a charity boxing match with comedians swapping punchlines for punches, with the climax being the Humphries boys whacking seven bells out of one another.

There’s more to the story than this, but it’s Kian’s story, and Kai’s, and Gav’s. For starters. And it’s not mawkish, it’s massively funny, thanks to the tenacity of the Brothers Humphries.

See this show, it’s four stars and five tissues. You may actually feel a little punch drunk when you come out – but you’ll be grinning like a loon.

Until 28 August. Today 6:45pm.