Comedy review: Scott Agnew: I've Snapped My Banjo String, Let's Just Talk
Star rating: ****
Venue: Gilded Balloon at the Counting House (Venue 170)
Well, he’s 6ft 5in and we’re a full house squeezed into a doll’s house. Also, he’s a charismatic character, with a lovely conversational manner that eases us into his world. There’s no rock and roll, but there are sex and drugs aplenty – at least there were; Agnew’s calmed down a bit of late, but he’s still a comedic thrill ride.
This is something of a sequel show, as Agnew tells us what happened after previous Fringe production Tales From the Sauna – a London run, dates in Prague, a possible job with MTV Europe, brief encounters in Glasgow, days lost to drink… Put it all together and it makes Agnew sound like a lost soul (especially those 7am trips to Greggs).
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd maybe he was, but right now he’s got it together for a show that’s searingly honest, exploding with humanity and laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. We learn about Agnew as he learns about himself, but while things get rather touching, mawkishness is a million miles away, via observations about the de-sexualisation of gay TV stars, homophobic GPs and more. I even learned something –just as a sausage isn’t always a sausage, sometimes a banjo string isn’t just a banjo string. Ouch.
This isn’t a show for the prudish or squeamish. Anyone else, though, should race to see Agnew, whose addictive personality may actually prove addictive.
Until 29 August. Today 10pm.