Fringe review: HAL CRUTTENDEN: CAN DISH IT OUT BUT CAN’T TAKE IT, Pleasance Courtyard
When a comic opens his set with Bond theme, ‘Nobody Does It Better’ from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he is setting expectations and a period context to his material. At least Hal Cruttenden acknowledges as he steps on stage that he likes to start humble and then he reminds us that his gig subtitle is "Can dish it out, but can't take it" and that he is going to be unnecessarily unpleasant during the set. There is nothing like managing first impressions before you get to know your audience! Having seen Nish Kumar, David O'Doherty, and Dan Tiernan the previous day, we had a benchmark to measure him against.
Unlike the other three, he does engage directly with the audience in traditional stand up comic eliciting responses that provide linking themes to his set. The twins in the front row certainly get some strong ribbing, the divorced lady at the back gets some interrogation over her break up, the American lady get some sympathy over her President, and the 27 year old Scottish nationalist gets teased over her polytechnic. All get drawn into his core material about Irish people, divorce, aspirations for his two daughters, dating post divorce, millennials use of social media, and regarding war injuries as “ick”.
Though he teases, it all feels in the best possible taste and is largely self deprecating about his own failings, seeing himself as someone that women use as a break between better men. We naturally warm to his charming delivery and sympathy for his situation. When the twins try to push back, he demonstrates that he indeed can't take it with a put down!
It is a classic old school stand up routine with mother-in-law jokes and teasing about Irish and Scottish people but the audience enjoyed it and we left feeling we could have taken more. Perhaps when he goes back on tour around the UK from September, we will see if he can dish out more but for the Fringe, we did indeed think he was one of the best.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne