Matt Tiller: Just Du-et

Don’t be misled – Matt Tiller comes with a guitar, but
the show’s name
is otherwise completely unrelated. As he explains, the Fringe
print deadline
came and went before he’d come up with a comedy concept. It could,
however, be
said that he’s duetting with George Osborne, so tight is the
Chancellor’s grip
around the show as the butt of Tiller’s antipathy towards wealthy,
right wing,
ex-Bullingdon Conservatives.

Though Tiller is sparky and engaging, and the premise of
the show
(kidnapping George Osborne) is imaginative, it’s ultimately
stifled by the chip
on his shoulder. It does feel like it was conceived in a hurry, as
Festival
deadlines loomed. The breadth of material is narrow, and many of
his songs
sound remarkably similar. That’s not to say his show is joke-free,
or dull. He
makes great use of film, amusing use of slides, and the surreal
plot is
genuinely entertaining. But there’s an over-fondness for and
over-reliance on
calling senior members of the cabinet “bellends”, which, while
funny once, gets
repetitive.

Ultimately his self-confessedly “simplistic” politics
prevent this show
from being more than promising-in-parts, and occasionally make the
audience
feel somewhat like they’re cornered at a party, being talked at.

-Hannah Ewan