Nathan Cassidy opens this show with great energy, telling us with a jig that it’s “all about positivity”. He goes on to contradict this statement to let us in on his penchant for gambling, his on-going search for love and a seeming lack of acceptance. This, in itself, is funny and Nathan does an excellent job of letting us know why.
Nathan Cassidy is fast becoming a firm favourite.
Through much brilliantly delivered self deprecation, he regularly references, as the show’s title would suggest he might, the Edinburgh Comedy Award and his coveting of it. This is one of several topics used as callbacks throughout the show, some of which seem a little laboured and are pushed a touch too far to sustain laughter; others, though, hit the mark every time.
That said, it is the unexpected crescendo of the night that works a treat and shows that Cassidy is a great comedian and if he isn’t the Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner for 2013, he’ll have you down the bookies for next year.
His rapport with the audience is instant and constant; you feel you are with him from the outset, and with his initially curious references to films from 1993, YouTube and the Simply Red song, ‘Fairground’, Cassidy pulls it all together and whips you along with him very nicely.
It is, funnily enough, much like a ride at a fairground watching this show. There are dips and slower moments, but like when on a roller-coaster that’s fine because you know it’s cranking up to another high and it all comes around full circle, complete with loop-the-loops, and you end it wanting to do it again. Also, without giving anything away, like they say at the fairground, everyone goes home a winner.
So as he prepares for a run at Finnegan’s Wake in Edinburgh next month, you can book your tickets for his show now and not feel it’s a risky flutter. In fact, Nathan Cassidy is fast becoming a firm favourite.
