Recorded on the 1st night of the run at PBH’s Free Fringe, Burt Williamson’s show 104kg of Pure Banter is his third hour of stand-up comedy, where his topic is himself.
It’s very much a show of everyday laughs and comment, focusing on topics like the irritation of supermarkets (‘cheaper than Aldi’, unexpected bagging alert’), ‘Just Giving’, relationships, AI (of course), and the whole issue of running on behalf of a charity.
Williamson is a confident comedian, who engages well with an audience as well as dealing professionally and quickly with a drunken heckler who does his best to be disruptive.
With hardly a breath between the difference parts of the show, 104kg of Pure Banter is fast-paced and relatable, and is enjoyable to watch.
Some performers struggle to start a set or keep up the energy, but that’s not the case here. I didn’t find my attention wavering and felt myself nodding along with some of the observations.
This is a performer who is also a great storyteller, without resorting to simple puns or sweary rants to the exclusion of more thoughtful material.
He can be snippy and brisk, but his directness on topics from the Royal Family’s ownership of swans, and his hatred of cats (“he has anxiety? I don’t give a f-k what he’s going through'”) is just very funny, if a little argumentative for some tastes.
Basically, this is just short of an hour of wordy and cranky stand-up on all the topics we have dealt with ourselves, or at least spent time thinking about.
Amusing, well-crafted, and delivered by a performer with no problem dealing with an audience, even using his back pain (“I’m entry-level disabled”) for laughs.
He can nudge into more serious topics, though, focusing at one point on male mental health and how some people strive to hide it.
I’ll give this 3.5 stars.
104kg of Pure Banter by Burt Williamson continues at the PBS Free Fringe at Edinburgh Fringe until 24 Aug. Details here and access to the show is on a free, non-ticketed basis.
You can also read my interview with Burt to find out more about the show.