Underbelly @ Bristo Square – Dexter
Aug 9-11, 13-26
14:45
The bustling Bristo Square is a great hot-spot for the Fringe, and this year it has come to life again with its usual social revelry. I was heading to the lower ground Dexter theatre to see a comedian called Alfie Packham. With a large prop box waiting to his right; Alfie came on, a young dude standing out on that triangular, tiny yet appealingly inviting stage. He soon began to tackle his difficult subjects with a very off-the-wall verbality, which made for a funny hour, yes, but laced with a certain trickiness and pain. Watching ”My Gift to You’ gave out the sense that something uncomfortable was wholly constant, like a thorn stuck in the foot.
While Alfie adlibbed along jagged edges of his personal experiences, we got to enjoy a confident, young, and laid back debut solo show, his hilarious jokes congealing in sarcasm; carefully flowing through the curtailing of sensitive relationships, bizarre discoveries and painful realisations. We could almost see the building blocks of ‘My Gift to You’ stack up as it progressed, while crashing like crescendos his riskier jokes would achieve more and more stridence.
I enjoyed the voice, the tact, the skill and the laid-back enthusiasm of Alfie Packham, but concern also grew as his material unfolded, & sorrow pervaded as a matter of course. But, tasteful to a fault, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more from this prolific performer in the future. An excellent and inspiring start to his Fringe career.
Daniel Donnelly
themumble.uk 