Gary Delaney: Purist

Gary Delaney makes his the Fringe debut with a well-received assault of taught one-liners, the stand-up equivalent of junk food.
Goading his audience to allow him to foray into edgier and edgier territory, the more offensive the joke, the more Delaney enjoys telling it. Experience, however, appears to have taught him to be wary of his audience turning on him, and numerous times he asks permission before moving up the scale of obscenity. It slightly takes the edge off.
But where this material loses its appeal is in its lack of wit and charm, jokes appearing offensive for offensive’s sake, as if Delaney is scratching an itch; and the big finish not nearly all it’s promised it will be. The little we learn of Delaney the person (and not the persona) is that he’s juvenile: in Wikipedia vandalism, he’s a repeat offender. The broader one-liners fare better, though too frequently they amount to little more than easy puns – easy to get, easy to forget.
Cheap frills are readily available through Delaney’s brand of junk comedy, though those in search of a more nutritious alternative may leave dissatisfied.

2/5

Nick Hemsley