Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Miles Jupp: Young Man In A Huff
Smirnoff Underbelly
Deeply patronising, massively condescending, with a silver spoon jammed so far down his throat it's a wonder he doesn't gag on it, Miles Jupp is not a man you would ever wish to encounter in real life.
Fortunately, he's just an immaculately crafted caricature of the archetypal young affluent, a bewildered toff lost in a sea of proles. It's not an easy persona to warm to and the audience took a while to find Jupp's wavelength.
But once they realised that he was spoofing the chinless gentry, the laughs became less uncertain, as Jupp's tightly scripted, flawlessly delivered material weaved its erudite magic.
Jupp (that's Archie from Balamory to you) is a master of the finely-honed turn of phrase and it's clear he worships at the altar of Peter Cook. Although the laughs are gentle, they are plentiful, whether he's citing one of the normalities of life as being 'firing a cannon to announce breakfast' or deciding to buy a jacket based on whether he could 'tune a harp in it'. It's masterful stuff, even if it's not bladder-worryingly funny.
Until Aug 28, Smirnoff Underbelly, Tue to Sun 8.15pm, £9 to £10, £7.50 to £8.50 concs.
