Matt Tiller: Just Du-et

Buy Online

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