EDINBURGH 2023: Review: FRANK SKINNER: 30 YEARS OF DIRT, Assembly George Square

With a career spanning over 30 years that includes several stand up specials, numerous awards and a sold out run at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it is fair to say that Frank Skinner is a top name in British comedy. Though if that were not enough, then this show more than proves why he deserves such an accomplishment.

Walking onto the stage to a room full of cheers and applause, Skinner quips "we'll see" which cracks up the audience. A good start.

As the show goes on Skinner simply talks us through his 30 years in the industry, telling small anecdotes here and there, all the while remembering funny little stories and jokes from time to time. It's a simple concept that proves not every comedian needs some grand narrative or over the top props to get a laugh. Sometimes just saying funny things for an hour can do the trick.

That is not to say that Skinner is not versatile, proving himself as a pro of comedy and brandishing an abundance of versatile jokes and gags. From mime to personal annecdotes to one liners to humour that is at times highly intelligent and at others ridiculously low brow.

With all of this said, it is clear that Skinner's type of humour is one that is of a certain time. Not that it is politically incorrect, but it certainly skews towards an older demographic. This is perhaps most notable when Skinner discusses how you need to be careful in comedy these days and watch what you say. He never makes any disparaging remarks but his routines on the topic seem overly simplistic, something which is made even more noticeable when you have a star like Daniel Sloss discussing the idea of cancel culture and comedy in great depth and with reverence at the very same arts festival. It just shows the difference in both generations and in humour.

With this in mind, Skinner's show probably is one that is for a slightly more narrow audience and won't attract many outsiders from his already large fan base, though for those that enjoy his work then this show is yet another night of top form comedy from one of Britain's biggest names.

Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt runs at Assembly George Square until 27 August.

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