Review: Andrew Lawrence, Pleasance Courtyard

Two reasons why. The first is that he’s back on the Fringe with a new stand-up show. The other is that he’s got a creepy face. No denying it.

Not that he’d be offended to hear you say it. His stand-up has always been scattered with references to his freakish looks, and his new show is no exception.

Lawrence’s last two Fringe visits were massively successful – the first year he got an if.comedy newcomer nomination, the second he was shortlisted for the main award. As such, he admits that “the pressure is on” this year.

If he was feeling it, he’s probably starting to relax a bit now. He’s packing out every show, reviews have been great and, most importantly, crowds are coming out of the Pleasance each night with massive grins on their faces.

I saw him at the preview night, but he was already firing on all cylinders.

Taking us on a journey through his dark and playfully misanthropic mind, he made it all look so easy. Indeed, it’s hard to see how, even with more shows under his belt, he will improve on it.

Predictably, his flair for funny voices got big laughs, but the best moments were when he went off on those trademark rants of his. He’s cut down on these in recent years, but when they did come they were brilliant.

So brilliant, in fact, that when I turned to the girl sitting next to me she was laughing so hard she literally had tears streaming down her face.

Lawrence’s delivery was impeccable and he hardly paused for breath. It was 100mph stuff and the laughs kept on coming.

His joke about the recent Dark Knight massacre garnered groans and uncomfortable laughter, but in the main he stayed on the right side of the audience with his self-deprecating humour.

The funniest comic on this year’s Fringe? Well, I’ve not seen them all, but Lawrence will take some beating.

Until August 27