At Chortle Fast Fringe 2010

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Stephen Carlin Blows The Lid Off The Whole Filthy Business – Edinburgh Fringe
Live Review

Stephen Carlin has always had an intriguingly different voice, partly surreal, party based a nerdy obsession with obscure minutiae at the expense of the bigger picture.

That hasn’t always translated into comic dynamite, however, as his fastidiously obtuse nitpicking tends to wards the self-indulgent.

But with this, his third solo Edinburgh show, he’s taken a big stride towards making his dry pedantry more accessible, and while there are still sizeable lulls, his greatest routines are things of strange beauty.

Even the old standard of comparing his appearance to someone more famous is given a witty twist, first by choosing Peter Sutcliffe as his lookalike, second by twisting the idea, line by line, with perfect timing, and leading to a couple more corking lines on serial killers.

Likewise, his take on Christmas – or Xmas as he insists on calling it – takes a refreshingly new look at the nativity story that has been much-plundered by comedians, linking smoothly into his original take on The 12 Days Of Christmas.

The routines still tend towards the surreal, but are underpinned with solid comedy ideas and a realization that you still need punchlines, even if you don’t flag them as such.

Carlin does, however, lose his way in some of the longer routines; material about World War Two and, especially, the closing and opening of curtains at the cinema get bogged down in the quagmire of their own repetition and feel like nothing more than indulgent time-fillers.

His dry, near-monotonous delivery takes some attuning to, but his voice, like his oddly formal stage attire, only adds to the image of an outsider with unhealthy fixations. It’s a shame he hasn’t yet got a consistently brilliant hour – but this show is another step in the right direction.

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Stephen Carlin at Eden Court Theatre Inverness.Sadly Stephen's set mainly comprised of talking about serial killers. I thought I was at a police conference, profiling serial killers. Staring into the middle distance and being hesitant will not win over an audience. As most people experience from their school report "can do better!" this applied on this occasion. Look forward to a return gig with more amusing material.

Douglas Thomson, November 2009

Saw him last night supporting Stephen Merchant at the Warwick Arts Centre. At first I thought his delivery was slightly off, but actually after a couple of minutes into his set you could see that was his delivery, and his jokes worked perfectly because of it. I thought he was outstanding, and certainly one of the quickest, sharpest, funniest comedians I've seen for a long time, I hope he goes from strength to strength

James Ventham, August 2008

I hope he doesn't end up headlining the chicken-in-a-basket Jongleurs circuit all the time for I think he is very good indeed.

Alaric Dynevor, Huddersfield, June 2008

Saw him for the first time at Hen and Chickens last night trying out new material for Edinburgh. Didn't think the show worked at all & was bordering on embarassing by the end. Hope he sorts it out in time for the proper show...

Ian S, July 2007

Saw him in Glasgow's The Stand. Fantastic, so funny, so clever. Only one swear word, no gross references re sex, masturbation etc, just side splitting observations and off beat comedy. go see him!

hugh reilly, December 2006

I fully intend to go and see Steve Carlin again, but this time, less wine will be consumed beforehand. After waking up in the morning and only then realising how funny his jokes were, I realised that one needed to be alert and awake to truly understand and appreciate this intelligent material. See this man... but sober

Benita, December 2006

You should try following Steve Carlin - it borders on the impossible. He's that good.

Malibu Donghonkey, May 2006

He's not just a comedians' comedian - he's much better than that. Incredible material and stage presence, he should be a big star.

Adnan Ahmed, April 2006

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