Mark Dolan – You’re Awesome!, Gilded Balloon 7:45pm, until 25 Aug, £9 (£7.50 concessions)
Largely known for presenting ‘Balls of Steel’ and documentaries, Mark Dolan has been taking to the stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to confirm and reiterate that we are all ‘awesome’, a welcome 60-minute break from the UK’s negativities and strife.
Dolan begins with retail gags, which most people can relate to, and delves into his supermarket observations, suggesting possible improvements that may actually work, including an ‘honest’ range of foods in Tesco and Sainsbury’s, such as ‘Tesco: It’s alright’ and ‘Sainsbury’s: Meh… bread’.
After commenting on Comet’s former workload (a memorable remark from the set), he proceeds to list things which are, in his opinion, ‘awesome’, forming the bulk of the gig. Some are funny, some fail to harness the audience’s imagination, but all are delivered in a punchy way which maintains the personable and assured buoyancy of ‘You’re Awesome!’.
The description of the show states that he shares hilarious video clips, which does not happen, but there is a prize given in the closing segment which sees Dolan return to presenting duties. After inviting two people onto the stage to be questioned about the awesome things they do or have done, the audience decide upon a winner, with the prize being… well, there’s no spoilers here, but let’s just say it may have been bought ‘in bulk’, perhaps in Poundland, a shop which Dolan rightfully questions – “just who is buying doorstops in packs of tens?” – he genuinely would like to know.
