one4review | On 10, Aug 2024

There is quite a buzz about Finlay Christie and his 2024 Fringe show, significantly helped along by his 200million YouTube views.

Finlay is no stranger to the Edinburgh Fringe or performing sketch and stand-up, having won a stand-up award here before lockdown and with his show last year being nominated for NextUp’s Best Show award.

So inevitably expectations will be high and tough to match, and it is odd that this show has the feel of a debut show by someone just out of drama school or university who has limited life experience and is keen not to offend.

The thought dawns that this show is evocative of The Inbetweeners. And that feeling is confirmed when we are shown photos of him as a youngster described as a posh white kid though not actually the product of a public school, but instead a nice middle class boy from a school in Essex who went on to a 4-year arts degree in languages and culture.

Finlay’s show is well measured, has structure with themes, with undemanding content that includes the EU, weed, Coldplay, sexual prejudices, and the attractiveness of other people’s cultures. It even wraps with a rap with some audience participation that he wrote as a teenager, which could have come straight from The Inbetweeners.

In conclusion it was clear that his audience went away happy, so it must be assumed that Finlay knows exactly what he is doing.

****1/2

Reviewed by HJ
Monkey Barrell 4
22.40 (1hr)
Until 25th Aug (not 13)