Wilfredo: Erecto!
It’s always an especial joy at the fringe when a show you had feared could be a stinker comes up smelling of roses. Wilfredo: Erecto! is a prime example.
So what a relief it was to discover that this is in fact a fine hour of late-night entertainment from comedian Matt Roper who, at his best, shows traces of Steve Coogan in his ability to embody a preposterous alter-ego with complete conviction.
Despite his buck-teeth, smoker’s cough and excess saliva problem, Wilfredo sees himself as a kind of Messiah figure, born to sing, write poetry, and seduce an endless succession of women (including, he claims, Princess Diana and Michelle Obama). Accompanied by his ‘uncle’ on guitar, he pouts and poses his way through a selection of original songs, interspersed with anecdotes from his colourful past and readings from his autobiography.
As he pours out his heart (and lungs) on an unsuspecting audience, this washed-up, gruesome Spanish lothario somehow manages to charm, and when I stumbled out into the Edinburgh night at half past midnight, my grin was almost as wide as his.
