Adam Flood has a laptop. He is noisy, confrontational, and abrasive, and his Edinburgh Fringe show Life and Death of the Party is anything but dull.
As he performs his comedy over rave music, you know he’s a little different from the norm as soon as you see him. His bio tells us he was once a teenage drug dealer, then an indie rock star, before finding himself suited to comedy.
I’ve come across him before through the Adam & Alex’s Indie Supergroup Podcast – created with Alexandra Haddow – so knew about the music background, but I’m new to his comedy.
He’s from Stoke-on-Trent so doesn’t suffer fools gladly and deals quickly and effectively with interruptions. He is a comedian with high levels of energy, fueled by the samples and beats he runs under the routine.
Life and Death of the Party mimics a night out for a millenial, with the dance floor, the break out, and what happens next all represented. It’s not my natural arena of comedy, but the audience are kept amused and the ideas flow thick and fast.
It’s relatable wherever you fall on the age spectrum. We all went through our own dance floor phases with all they represented. In many way nothing has changed, and Flood’s description of himself as “part MC, part DJ, part stand-up comedian, aka ‘the holy trinity of unreliable boyfriends” does resonate.
He’s a gag man at heart, although he does thread in observational comedy and a bit of the personal. The space he’s using to perform, Cabaret Voltaire at Monkey Barrel, is curious enough to feel a bit ‘off’ and that suits this unusual and lively show.
3.5 stars.
Adam Flood: Life and Death of the Party was part of this Edinburgh Fringe.
Find out more about Adam on his Instagram.
I reviewed this show from a recording supplied by Adam’s PR.