It’s hard to pinpoint how old Kevin Bridges is. A quick investigation will tell you he’s 27 but, onstage, the Scotsman essentially keeps that hidden. His sartorial dress and stubby profile both contribute to the ambiguity. But it chiefly results from how his subject matter is handled.
When it comes to biting self-deprecation, UK comics are unrivalled. Bridges is no exception but tonight’s slants against himself and his home country were never overly acerbic. He discussed Andy Murray-pandemonium transforming belligerent football hooligans into tennis nuts; suggested the campaign for Scottish independence should be decided by whatever the English don’t want; and explained how last summer’s heatwaves prompted his father to barrack for the Scottish weather on the world news, as if in competition with their European neighbours. Bridges’ casual delivery and touches of affection gave this tried-and-tested terrain a fresh lilt.
Similarly, his illumination of the absurdity of first-world crises – dramatizing the exorbitant amount of refused credit card applications since the GFC and jesting it’s Africa’s turn to host a few Live Aid-style benefits for the struggling West – also held unique, chirpy appeal.
Off-the-cuff audience interactions and material about his few days in Melbourne proved Bridges capable of spontaneous hilarity. At times, keen concentration was required to decipher the jokes from beneath his thick Scottish brogue but, even if there wasn’t non-stop belly laughs, the sold out room were buoyantly attentive throughout.
There was no lull, in fact the 50 minutes expired far too soon. However, Bridges kept it all very casual. He dropped asides and picked through ideas with prevailing success, but he didn’t quite launch into rolling momentum.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
