YOUR GUIDE TO EDINBURGH'S FESTIVALS
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
ED2011 1/5 Reviews ED2011 Comedy Reviews
The Quest For Human Happiness (Tim Hadfield / Laughing Horse Free Festival)
By Jessica Lambert | Published on Thursday 11 August 2011
Nothing you have ever seen by Ricky Gervais can prepare you for the reality of unintentional, stomach-churning embarrassment comedy. ‘The Quest For Human Happiness’ is a stand-up routine that doesn’t involve jokes or any scripted material. Instead it involves a great many long and painful silences. It’s the sort of silence that falls after someone has said, “I will help each of you remember how to swim with the stars.” Or when a conversation with a breast surgeon in the audience turns to the fact that terminal cancer rates are, in fact, rising. Beat that for a punchline! If you’re pining for another series of Extras, the real version is here – unedited and infinitely more excruciating.
Laughing Horse @ City Café, 4 – 28 Aug, 4.15pm (5.15pm), free, fpp137.
tw rating 1/5
[jl]
