As the Fringe nears its end, choosing shows on the basis of the length of their queues can be a quick way to deal with the excessive choice.
This approach led me to queuing up at Monkey Barrel 3 for Gianmarco Soresi: The Drama King Tour. Those who had bought tickets for the show clearly knew something, as this proved to be an excellent show by a talented comedian.
Gianmarco Soresi is making his Edinburgh Fringe debut this year, having already gained considerable online traction and toured internationally. No doubt his Fringe run will further expand his audience. His remaining shows are sold out but it is still possible to see him; if you are prepared to take a chance in the queue.
Pay what you can
Monkey Barrel offers Fringe-goers two options. Either you pay in advance and are guaranteed seat or you can queue up for the chance of getting one of the few seats they hold back, on a pay what you can basis. This does offer Fringe-goers on a limited budget to see shows on the ‘paid Fringe’. To see Soresi means you’ll have to queue for about 30-45 minutes to give yourself a good chance.
In the case of this show, 14 got in, including myself. As we waited, those in the queue shared Fringe tips; of must sees and shows to avoid (“I’m not sure if it was deliberately bad!”). Blair Street is really near the epicentre of the Fringe, with famous names passing regularly. As I waited, I caught sight of Nish Kumar, Mark Watson, and also the TV presenter Terry Christian.
Dynamic
This was a dynamic and well-performed show. The audience were really held for the full length of the show, with the quality and pace never dropping. Soresi was unsure about what the deeper narrative of his show was but actually brought things together well, with a very effective conclusion that really ended things on a high note.
Soresi mined his own experience and his own identity for material, but never did so in a self-obsessed way. These were all stories that either the audience could connect to or see the effervescent His themes included relationships and politics. Some of the initial political material lacked some subtlety, but when he got into his take on Jewishness and Zionism, the material was particularly sharp and intelligent, surprising the audience at many points.
Wrestling
The energy was generally very high but Soresi did make skilful use of changes pace and volume. His physical comedy and theatrics also added to the effect. This included wrestling with his stool at one point!
Some of his humour was definitely edgy, but done with real intelligence and sharpness. The jokes were very well crafted, with punch lines that often caught the audience by surprise, with several long intakes of breath as the audience absorbed what they had just heard. Soresi punctuated his performance with the phrase “perhaps that’ll be the joke that end me”, aware that some of his jokes were likely to offend some people. This included a particularly strong Holocaust joke; the response to it really rumbled around the the room. He delved into his experiences with antisemitism and Jewish culture, exploring these topics with dark humour and irony.
Papa quips
There was a nice section which partly deconstructed the idea of a dad joke (or, as he felt it should be called in the UK “papa quips”), looking at why, at a psychological level, men of a certain age enjoy such humour. This was the example of Soresi getting into deeper territory, without letting the humour level drop. Soresi’s interactions with the audience were particularly good (in other shows of his, crowd work is even more of a feature), making use of some of the unexpected responses that emerged. Soresi even used some minor ‘flubs’, to his advantage, using them as opportunities to delve a bit deeper.
His performance was engaging and thought-provoking. This is in line with his The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast, which offers a space for open discussions about struggles and challenges. This has further cemented his reputation as a voice that tackles real-world issues with humour and honesty. This was evident throughout his performance at Monkey Barrel.
This was a very strong show, performed with dexterity and energy.
Gianmarco Soresi is performing at:
Monkey Barrel 3 (Venue 515) until August 24th.
Underbelly Bristo Square on August 22nd, 23rd (at 10pm), and 23rd (at 5:30pm).
