It is always a bit disconcerting when you go see a big name doing stand up and it turns out to be ‘just good’. You expect more, you think it should be much more, but it just isn’t. It’s not that Hughes isn’t funny, because he is, and he certainly has a following to prove it. Simply put, Hughes’ routine is very mundane, very middle-of-the-road, when it should actually be non-stop highway material.
The packed auditorium listens expectantly to Hughes’ every word, and when a joke backfires, chuckles of encouragement can be heard amongst the crowd. The audience wants him to do well; and at time, he does. A whole rant about being (or feeling) old goes down a treat, with riotous laughter exploding after every punch line. But this only last so long, and back it goes to his not-so-funny material.
Hughes does know how to work with audience heckles, and he incorporates them beautifully into his act. He is also better at on-the-spot comedy than pre-rehearsed stories and gags, relaxing and enjoying what comes from the top of his head.
Biggest flaw of all, though, is his time-keeping, overrunning his hour-long show by more than 15 minutes, really trying the patience of his audience. All in all, Hughes’ 2010 stint at the Edinburgh Fringe is good, just not the excellent stand-up we all expected and hoped for.
3/5 
Adrian G. Velazquez
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