Some gigs are just jinxed. From the microphone cutting out during the intro to the painfully stilted audience banter – ”anyone from America? Anyone? No? Well, I’ll do the joke anyway” – Chris Kent’s gig was doomed from the beginning. Kent himself is funny, with decent jokes, well worked call backs and some mortifyingly amusing stories – such as the conga at a funeral – even if he does take too long on his set-ups. The gig never rose above good, however, with Kent belabouring gags that just weren’t strong enough to justify the time spent on them. Maybe on a different night, with a lively audience, this would have been a better show. Tonight, though, was just one of those nights.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1-26 Aug (not 13), 9.00pm.
tw rating 3/5 | [Andrew Bell]