EDINBURGH 2023: Review: MARC JENNINGS: AWAY FROM HERE, Monkey Barrel

In the September after his 2022 Edinburgh Fringe run Marc Jennings found a list of goals he had written for himself in 2016. Disappointed to find that not only had he not reached his goals, he was actually worse off than when he had written it.

In the show blurb, it promises to be his most personal show to date and it takes a little while to get into the reasons for this. There's a lot of fun to be had as he talks us through how he feels still living at home at age 33 and online dating. Speaking openly about his feelings about his body image and health, this does feel like a slightly different set to what we've seen from him in previous years.

There has been a lot said about 'the sad show'. Comedy shows that start off light and then shift to some sort of grief or trauma before a hopeful ending and then they win all of the awards. There's nothing manipulative about Jennings' show though. He does standup comedy about his life and unfortunately, loss has been a part of that recently. It's emotional but dealt with beautifully with a balance of sincerity and light humour.

It's not part of the show but there's some terrific ad-libbing on the noise bleed from the venue. Apparently, it hasn't been an issue for the whole run but every now and then the momentum of the show is interrupted by a clatter from the kitchen or on one occasion- a staff member singing. Jennings handles this really well and gets a lot of laughs.

This is a brilliant show from a skilled comic who has shown that he's capable of tackling emotional stories while taking care of both himself and the audience. There are definitely big laughs to be had but most importantly you'll leave feeling a little bit brighter- which is Jennings' intention.

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