James Acaster “Reset” – Udderbelly Festival 2016
What connects a supermarket honey scam, the name Shaun (or Sean), and the witness protection act? Sadly, it’s not a regional news headline generator. It’s comedian James Acaster – four-time Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Award nominee.
Let’s face it, it’s been a miserable week/month/year (delete as appropriate). And that’s just the weather. So, refusing to give up, we headed down to the Udderbelly Festival for some cheering up.
In concept, the pop-up Southbank venue is clearly designed for summer – outside it’s all AstroTurf (a divisive material occasionally found in our meeting rooms), giant flower pots, street food trucks and bars. Thankfully, there are also giant umbrellas, so if it’s chucking it down (which it was), you can still enjoy a drink outside (which we did).
The main event of course, is inside the giant, upturned purple cow – summer’s home to light family entertainment, small theatre productions and stand-up comedy. Enter James Acaster, Kettering’s king of whimsical, observational comedy and part-time tour guide to the stars.
The hour-long set is neatly paced, taking us on a journey through Acaster’s First World Guilt-ridden mind, starting with a honeybee business designed to rip off supermarkets, and ending with strange musical interludes. Throughout though, it’s very funny. It’s no wonder he’s been nominated four times at the Edinburgh Fringe for best Comedy Show. You can find out more about James here and please see below for the best photo of Olivia and Dan ever taken.
