Sarah Kendell unearths an underground comedy gem at the musical comedian's new show.
After 24 hours immersed in the torrential downpours, stretching queues and mad venue-to-venue dashes that is Edinburgh Festival, the opening song to James Sherwood’s gig couldn’t be more appropriate. Clearing his throat and taking a seat at his piano in the GRV’s dimly-lit performance space, the comedian acknowledges how easy it can be to end up in the wrong queue, and if that’s the case then perhaps those who’ve accidentally entered his show could sneak out now. Already charmed by Sherwood’s timely wit, I’m sent into genuine hysterics by his second song, a perfect jazz-hands parody of the irritating enthusiasm with which flyer distributors plug their shows on the city streets. Ten minutes in and the tears of laughter are already present.
For his fifth solo show, Sherwood delivers a tight and witty performance, combining a perfect mix of surrealist whimsy and political commentary. One Man and His Piano takes the form of an old-school Vegas lounge show injected with the comedian’s characteristically British dry wit – think Stephen Fry does Elton John.
One of the central concepts running through the show is Sherwood’s discovery that ex-Beatle Paul McCartney wrote ‘Yesterday’ after it came to him in a dream. The comedian decided to follow McCartney’s lead and pen his own dream song, the ever so slightly less poignant ‘A Horse Face is Not a Human Face’, a tune which he breaks into at various points during the show. Yes, those are pretty much the only words to the song, and no, it surprisingly doesn’t get less amusing with each repeat. I was trying to work out exactly why this was during the show, and I think it’s because Sherwood possesses that fantastic, Tim Key-esque devil-may-care attitude that allows him to get away with spouting complete nonsense and making it seem like the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard.
Apart from the more nonsensical offerings though, there are also some truly clever and well-crafted musical ditties on show in Sherwood’s world. The oft-flogged David Cameron somewhat typically makes an appearance, by way of a surprisingly original and hilarious tune about how being yourself sometimes isn’t actually the best policy. Similarly unique is a song about the trial of Saddam Hussein’s cousin, who was awarded six death sentences and, unluckily, appealed successfully against five of them. As well as his enjoyably laconic stage presence, it also seems Sherwood truly has the observational comedian’s gift for unearthing the strangeness in everyday events.
The only part of his show that seems a little lacklustre is when Sherwood steps away from the piano to tell the tale of his brush with death via a heart arrhythmia. While no doubt interesting, it lacks the comedic punch of his musical stuff and doesn’t quite gel with the whimsical atmosphere of the rest of the hour.
All in all though, I can honestly say I’m smugly beaming to myself at having unearthed one of the underground picks of the Fringe as I exit Sherwood’s performance. Suddenly the chilly afternoon wind of the Royal Mile doesn’t seem quite so harsh – although my friends are less than thrilled at my compulsive singing of the ‘Horse Face’ song for the rest of the evening.
James Sherwood - One Man and his Piano will be at the GRV in Edinburgh until August 29th.
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