by **** (out of 5)
Hungry. Horny. Scared. But enough about the walrus that showed up in Paddy Young’s hometown to epically greet his fellow Northerners for New Year’s.
This show is about Young’s big debut. He has big dreams, but before detailing them, he needs us to know how condescending it feels to come to London as an aspiring comedian, or aspiring anything, based on how the movies portray dreamers from his part of England. The reality that awaited him in London wasn’t nearly so cinematic. I mean, who dreams of sharing a house with multiple flatmates, where they all fight for cooking space and wind up eating alone in their rooms? Young works the crowd to find out their expectations and sensibilities when it comes to housing, before turning back to his story, and that one flatmate who’s his nemesis.
Befitting his name, perhaps, Paddy Young is charismatically impish. Even more so on this night late into the Fringe, when he had to awake early to claim his nomination for Best Newcomer, only to find his crowd work at night now involves more industry and media folk in the audience. The spotlight’s on him now. Time to shine.
Paddy Young: Hungry, Horny, Scared runs through Aug. 27 at Pleasance Courtyard Baby Grand
