'In this way I shall preserve many things that would otherwise be lost in oblivion. I shall find daily employment for myself, which will save me from indolence and help to keep off the spleen, and I shall lay up a store of entertainment for my after life.'

For James Boswell posts please follow the labels on the right.

This blog mainly contains reviews from the Edinburgh Festivals from 2008 to 2010 which I wrote for the Edinburgh Festivals Magazine. These reviews cover everything from comedy to contemporary dance; children's theatre to Handel.


Sunday 23 October 2011

Jason Cook: Dear Review

Jason Cook: Dear

You wouldn’t expect it from an ex-sailor, ex-alcoholic, Geordie, but Jason Cook is actually a bit of a charmer. That’s not to say this isn’t good ol’ fashioned stand up comedy with all the usual ingredients. Rather, Jason Cook proved a master of inclusion – and not only in the sense of laughing at badly dressed members of the audience.

Clearly a natural comedian, who almost certainly wouldn’t include performing as a fear. Instead Cook’s fears are fairly common. It’s how he tries deal with them that makes this show so funny. A fear of dentists forced him to pull his own tooth out – with a pair of pliers after six cans of Stella. This horror – and his imprisonment for piracy off the coast of Libya – caused him post-traumatic stress. Or ‘drinking’ as it’s called in Newcastle.

A fear of heights, which forces part of Cook’s mind to tell him he can fly, resulted in him jumping off of Sky Tower in New Zealand – a 328 meter structure. This did nothing to cure his phobia and instead made him wee himself and possibly have a heart attack.

An unpretentious and consistently funny stand up from Cook, who has a battery hilarious anecdotes for the audience.

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