Dom McGovern: Prize Hog comedy review – Confident and caustic
Taking on insecurities and identity issues, the comedian’s Fringe debut is smooth, quippy and not afraid to confront heavy themes
Winning over a Fringe audience who have been queuing in the haar of Edinburgh for 20 minutes longer than expected is no easy task. But Dom McGovern charms them from the off. Prize Hog is McGovern’s debut Fringe hour, but it feels as though he’s been doing this for years. For a show about insecurity, he’s a remarkably confident onstage presence. This isn’t the first hour of stand-up about coming to terms with yourself and your body, but McGovern’s treatment of the subject is consistently laugh-out-loud funny. It’s framed around feeling inadequate on a trip to Brazil, with riffs about Kate Moss, exploitative mid-noughties reality television and a therapist called Wendy Christmas. But what separates this show from the pack is the sheer number of jokes per minute.
Crowd work is built into the hour's narrative but doesn’t take you out of proceedings, as it can often do. McGovern’s natural affability has a caustic edge, and he gleefully ribs an assortment of audience members throughout. More serious material is woven into the performance without the jarring tonal shift that can occur when heavier issues enter comedy. Prize Hog is a remarkably assured debut from a comedian who seems increasingly comfortable being himself.
Dom McGovern: Prize Hog, Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 8.30pm; picture: Maisy Banks.