Russell Kane Edinburgh Preview Review
I saw Russell Kane recently in a South London comedy club doing an Edinburgh Preview. Let me start by saying that I am a huge Russell Kane fan. I saw him for the first time about six years ago when I was just getting in to live comedy, in Shillibeers bar next to The Pleasance London. I didn’t have any preconceptions and was blown away by his energy and physicality, not to mention his subject matter which seemed at the time very fresh. Since then I’ve watched various Edinburgh shows of his and have also seen him do bits and bobs of TV appearances some of which were less successful than others!
I enjoyed his recent preview but I did find it a wee bit complacent. The subject matter (which seemed to revolve mainly around his Dad and how bad the lighting was in the venue) felt a bit tired. Also the lighting wasn’t bad; we were only a few metres away and could see him fine so it just came across as slightly Diva-esque behaviour (not as Diva-esque as if he went in for laser hair removal west london, but you know what I mean…) That was a shame and made me feel a bit sad. As a fan you always hope that people won’t become conceited when they taste a bit of TV fame, so hopefully he was just having a bad day. The set was still great and quick and had loads of potential but I did feel as an audience member a bit snubbed. Would he have tried harder and moaned less if he’d been in a bigger venue with a bigger crowd? Probably. But as a punter I don’t want to think that. Punters want every show to be special right? Even previews.
I’m going up to Edinburgh this year though so I’m sure he’ll blow me away again there and talk less about the limitations of the venue and more about his material!