Fringe Review: DOM MCGOVERN: PRIZE HOG, Bunker One at Pleasance Courtyard
Photo credit: Maisy Banks
A lamp, a flat screen television and Jesus Christ himself (on the cross) adorn the stage as Dom McGovern strides onto it. Immediately confident and charming, McGovern puts the audience at ease - it doesn’t feel like he will pick on you although he might out you for being straight. It’s tough out there.
McGovern is off, Bunker One at the Pleasance suddenly becomes Brazil, we’re in Rio, on the beach, everyone has a six pack and McGovern has chlamydia. Perfect. Somehow, wonderfully, from there we are taken on the journey of McGovern’s life growing up gay as an Irish Catholic in the 2000s. We reminisce collectively over Special K, Jedward and their empire, and a ripped Jesus - oh, the societal pressures throughout our formative years. We’ve all, to some degree, been there.
As a debut hour at the Fringe, McGovern’s Prize Hog is hilarious. A laugh-a-minute, he is magnetic onstage grinning as the audience all but fall apart laughing. His crowd work comes so naturally that as he slips out of his meticulously crafted routine you realise quite how quick and genuinely funny McGovern is.
From his childhood in the village to an eating disorder group therapy session, McGovern pulls no punches. He wraps up mental health deftly in an entertaining and relatable performance where you really feel like the sky is the limit. Dipping into contentious topics on barely more than a whim, McGovern shines on stage, whisking you up in his playful silliness. And even as things become serious, nothing strays too far into emotion before McGovern pulls you back in with a punchline.
With impeccable comic timing and a grin to match, McGovern’s performance is smart, cheeky and bursting with energy. He commands the room and deserves a much bigger audience - in many ways, a biblical performance.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Hannah Goldswain
Dom McGovern: Prize Hog plays at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 30 Aug, with further info here.