one4review | On 17, Aug 2019

English born but Edinburgh based comedian Liam Withnail’s reputation has been growing over the last year or two, his 2018 show Homeboy was critically acclaimed and popular with audiences alike.
And Homecoming for me is even better.
Withnail oozes confidence in his material, feeds off his audience, even if one or two do get a bit too involved for his liking, and mined laugher from everyone throughout his hour.
Most comedians thrive on things going wrong in their life for material, but life ain’t bad presently, but that doesn’t hinder his fertile imagination and oratory skills as the hour is full of quality.
He talks about travels, his honeymoon to Japan, gigging in Australia, trip to the states. We learn the AFL Geelong Cats club song in relation to Liverpool, West Ham and the All Blacks, we hear about his wife’s surprising digestive abilities and what seemed to cause a lot of audience debate as to what is juice, and Irn Bru sugar content. It’s amazing what he gets laughs from and the depth of feeling between different parts of Scotland to these topics. And there is a whole raft more subjects to ponder in this packed out hour including a trip to a Polish language comedy night.
Withnail’s final story on the dreaded Brexit malarkey is one of the best pieces on this thorny topic I have seen so far. A fitting conclusion.
4.5 ****
Monkey Barrel 2
18.40 to 19.40
Until 25th