By Ollie Wilson
This is a brilliant show from the king of stammering comedy, Aidan Greene - and I loved every second of it.
From Greene's childhood memories of a teacher who he believed actually had eyes in the back of her head (a theory he tried to test by orchestrating a daring ambush!) to his abortive appearance as Prince Charming in the school pantomime, it had his 16-strong audience in tears of laughter.
I loved his Joe Biden material, although, to be fair, having once allegedly had a stammer was the least of Joe's issues! And I thorough enjoyed his childhood list of likes and dislikes about himself, dutifully produced to satisfy his school speech therapist. Moreover, his 'Scatman' material was lovely.
It is the gifted Irishman's ninth show at the Edinburgh Fringe; all, it seems, related to his stammer, although he has branched out into a couple of other conditions (it seems stand-ups collect them like trophies these days!)
And, of course, he is right to regard his stammer as a strength. I am a bit prone to stammering, particularly when I would really rather not (such as job interviews or trying to talk to celebrities!), while my wonderful elder brother has always had a far more severe stammer than me. Yet it did not stop him from graduating with a top Oxford University mathematics degree, doing a doctorate, having an accomplished City career and retiring comfortably early. Not once, in 65 years, has he complained about his stammer or even mentioned it!
In a similar vein to that, Greene' 'Daniel story' was moving, interesting and inspiring. As is Greene's own remarkable history and approach to a successful life.
Stammer on, dude! This outstanding show is easily worth five stars!
Star Rating: *****
Star Rating: ****
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