Review: Ed Gamble: Stampede at the Komedia, Brighton

Shouting throughout the entire show, Ed Gamble took the cliché of raising the roof as a much more literal challenge.
Ed GambleEd Gamble
Ed Gamble

It was his spoof character Georgie from Almost Royal that took over at the Komedia Studio last Friday.

Though best known for co-presenting The Peacock and Gamble podcast, Ed Gamble’s comedy show Stampede saw him perform solo.

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Yet it is easy to see why Gamble thrives in a double-act, with his best material being the spontaneous jokes he made when interacting with the audience.

From quick witted remarks with the diver in the front row, to re-enacting vomiting on a plane with another audience member, it was his ad-lib material that drew the most laughs.

Along with jokes about Brighton’s alternative reputation, these hilarious interactions breathed new life into Gamble’s evidently well-practised set.

Yet his actual show certainly had some memorable moments as well. His demonstration of a dance used to show anger at misogynistic song lyrics is definitely one to try at home.

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But jokes about clean eating and the fragility of masculinity felt a bit tired, having already done the rounds throughout 2016.

Luckily, Gamble is unusually self-aware for a comedian, and poked fun at himself for how much of his show he spent detailing a cauliflower pizza recipe.

This made what could have easily become a worn out joke something that kept the sold-out crowd laughing and cheering throughout the performance.

Gamble’s true success is managing to make audience members feel part of the joke, rather than simply there to provide the laughter.

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