John Hegley’s hour is put up in a lecture hall, which feels both fitting and not so. As is made clear in his material, Hegley often works in educational settings, but this piece isn’t quite a lecture or a lesson. It’s more poetry reading, sing-along, improvisation, autobiography, and workshop. Hegley has the kind of humour one expects to work on children, but of course never does. At one point, he shares a joke he once told a group of children, referring to an elephant as a “funny looking dog.” None of the children laughed, and one replied simply, “that’s an elephant.” Perhaps stupid humour was always better suited for adults, not least because it often fails, and failure is funny.

Summerhall, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Ben Flaumenhaft]