Larry Dean at his most chaotic and sentimental show yet
Numerous award winning shows, fifteen years of Edinburgh Fringe performances, Scottish Comedian of the Year 2013 winner and Celtic fan, Larry Dean is somewhat of a darling of Scottish comedy. It almost feels superfluous to review a show of his, you’d be astonished at this point if it wasn’t funny, and it also seems too late for him to reinvent himself. Larry Dean: Hellbent is everything Larry Dean fans would expect, its chaotic, he’s doing some utterly ridiclious larger than life impressions including very impressive Golumn impression complete with crawling on the stage. At one point the crowd eagerly waits for him to make some kind of strange dinosaur scream at an audience member who had gone to the toilet during a story.
Larry Dean isn’t often subtle but that doesn’t mean he’s not clever or careful with how he picks his words. The show’s central thread follows the story of his recent marriage, from the first date to his proposal and the ceremony, taking us through his journey of learning a more healthy kind of love. As his energy peaks telling us some absurd anecdotes often punctuated by over the top impressions of the people involved, he contrasts this with his insecurities that he’s not worthy of his husband and the relationship they have. As you’d expect from a veteran comedian of his calibre Larry conducts the pacing of the show tightly, it’s never boring, and there’s rarely a joke that doesn’t land to some degree. It’s certainly the most “in your face” of the material I’ve seen from Larry, and at time it felt to me like it was leaning a little too much into 2010 “xd so random” humour many of us grew up with on the internet. Good comedy is often unexpected, but not every surprising line or abrupt change of pace is necessarily funny.
If it’s the price to pay to make the emotional beats of Larry Dean opening up about his relationship, its worth it. Hellbent is at it’s best when Larry takes us to sentimental moments, cutting through the cynicism or commentary on religious sectarianism. This show is easy to recommend, it’ll be hard to get a significantly better comedy set – or at least one safe to recommend to everyone. It is however nothing mind blowing or otherwise beyond the pale of what you’d expect from such a popular veteran comedian at the Edinburgh fringe. For the entry price of 17 pounds, it’s hard to say no if you read this far.