Comedy review: Phil Kay: Euphoric

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Euphoric indeed. What an absolute joy to see Phil Kay on form, bringing a sweaty cellar full of people to full-on, excited, rolling laughter.

Heroes @ Monkey Barrel (Venue 515)

****

Kay is on fire tonight. Drinking beer from a big yellow bucket with holes in his sleeves, he sweeps the audience on an exhilarating stream of consciousness loaded with laughter.

Words, stories and little improvised songs spill out of Kay’s head in a neverending stream.

He plays with words,
bubbles with exuberance, dances around the stage like a giant child who has woken up with an adult’s body.

He is fertile, feral,
otherwordly and exploding with energy.

Kay has just returned from a trip to Australia. And it seems to have brought this – sometimes lost – comedy genius back to life.

He tells us tales of staying in Airbnb where the air is free but there is a big wolf-like dog leafing through the Fringe programme.

There’s a trip to a strip club, which means Kay has to
persuade a native Australian to lend him his shoes.

And there is the
neverending story of Phil Kay and his bicycles – which are constantly leaving him because he cannot bear to lock them up.

There is never any shortage of things to talk about with Phil Kay. His life is one long, rollicking adventure, flying from one place to another on his bike, sharing moments with strangers, picking up shoes as he needs them.

On stage too he can be unpredictable. But it is just a wonderful thing to see this Scottish giant of comedy in full flight.

As the gig ends, with a sweaty audience tired out from so much laughter, Kay thanks us for sharing the moment.

“Thank you for your response. Thank you for letting my mind flower,” he says.

Until 27 August. Today 9:20pm.