Dolan’s material was good: often very good. His persona on stage was likeably self-conscious and disarming. But there’s an odd disconnection between the two that meant this routine simply didn’t work. A show about “suicide, homicide and genocide” needs an appropriately misanthropic, acerbic voice to spit the gags at the audience laced with bile; you need to commit to a routine like this. It’s unfair, I know, to compare comedians to comedy legends. That being said, if Dolan’s words had come out of Bill Hicks’ mouth, they’d have killed, whereas, today they simply died. Some jokes got the laughs they deserved, but there were a lot of awkward silences and I was relieved for his sake when he finished early.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 25 Aug (not 12), 5.30pm.
tw rating 2/5 | [Andrew Leask]