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Stuart Laws: So Preoccupied with Whether Or Not He Could That He Didn't Stop to Think Whether He Should

Clever surrealist material in need of some tightening up
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Stuart Laws: So Preoccupied with Whether Or Not He Could That He Didn't Stop to Think Whether He Should

Clever surrealist material in need of some tightening up

Surrealism in comedy isn't as easy as it looks. You can't just string some random words and ideas together and hit comedy gold. It's all too easy to drift off into a random stream of consciousness that largely exists without any real gags. Though Law's show has its moments, it teeters on the brink frequently. There is some structure in stories of his first job in a puffin sanctuary, his home town and a paper round. He creates a delightfully oddball world but ultimately the pay-off for it just seems to wander off. Laws likes a good wordplay but that too feels somewhat underwritten.

The show has its moments, there's an inspired bit depicting a 12-minute hiatus in the job interview for a puffin sanctuary while he attempts to recall his favourite bird. Elsewhere there are some neatly enjoyable callbacks.

Overall, it feels like there's potential for some clever material here, but it's all in need of reining in and tightening up. Given the amount of supportive comedians in the room, he's not short of comedian mates to bounce off. As someone who frequently works with other comics on film projects, maybe he should take his own advice and collaborate.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 Aug, 6pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

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