one4review | On 10, Aug 2018

This is what I love about the Fringe. You never quite know what you’re gonna get. Early evening stand up. What can possibly go wrong? Turns out, Daniel Cook, is a complete lunatic! No clue in the name; Daniel Cook, sounds completely normal. We are talking a manic frenzied performance. He looks normal enough but he is in fact anxious about, well, everything. He barely leaves the house, on account of the fear of people, just people in general. Yes, he is afraid of being caught up in a terrorist attack. Chances are that won’t happen, but it’s a brilliant excuse, not to venture outside the house.

Daniel’s style of comedy can be compared to Russell Brand in his most manic period. We are talking about, around the time, when he had a mouse living in his hair. That sort of period!

The title of the show, “Carpet”, it turns out is the name of his late beloved, totally mentally deranged, half blind, rescue cat. A cat, that by all accounts, reflected, in so many ways, his owner.

We are given reasons for at least some of Daniel’s generally odd behaviour. He has been quite unwell with a middle ear condition. Turns out this is a pretty crucial bit of kit for the body and mind to function. It left him with three weeks to survive with no TV, no music, no intellectual stimulation of any sort as the noise would aggravate the condition. So three weeks, alone with your thoughts. Only your thoughts, well that can do terrible things to a person’s mind. The result is a deranged, manic, slightly unsettling but ultimately brilliant stand up.

This is a superbly original, hilarious, edge of your seat show.

*****5 star One4review
Reviewed by Margot

The Pleasance Bunker One
Until Aug 26th at 18:45