2010 Edinburgh Fringe

Pete Johansson review

Pete Johansson: Pete's On Earth. Pete Johansson. Copyright: BBC

As a performer Pete Johansson ticks all the boxes. He's amiable enough without being afraid to get controversial. And just seconds into his Fringe show Pete's On Earth he's got the audience behind him - exposing his vulnerable side with some pretty intense family revelations without getting all Dear Deirdre on us. By the time the jokes start rolling in the audience is roaring with laughter.

Tackling everything from the idea that abortion could save the planet to performing to soldiers in Afghanistan, there are plenty of barbed insights lurking behind the warm, peaceable Canadian exterior.

There are plenty of laughs along the way, though don't mind the high handed rants that verge on the sanctimonious, because the comedy in between is so acutely observed and genially presented.

Yet despite the well versed comedy prose, there are occasions when you feel that you've wandered into opinionated sixth former territory and it's difficult to marry up the putting-the-world-to-rights zealotry with some of the Confessions of a Sex Tourist stuff that comes later in Johansson's set.

But fair play - at the start of Pete's On Earth, he warns the audience that this year's show is darker than anything he's done in the past. He's taken some risks, and the result is that Pete's On Earth stands out from the by-the-numbers hack work elsewhere on the Fringe.

It's testament to his strength as a performer and the utter honesty of his writing that the audience are totally in for the ride and you have to admire Johansson for refusing to play it safe.


Pete Johansson: Pete's On Earth listing

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