EDINBURGH 2023: Review: PHILIPP KOSTELECKY: DADDY'S HOME, The Stand Comedy Club 2

What do you look for in a potential partner? Someone who loves to relax at home? Someone who knows what they’re doing in life? Someone with a happy family? If so, you and Philipp Kostelecky don’t have much in common. Philipp Kostelecky: Daddy’s Home is Kostelecky’s debut hour of comedy in which he talks about dysfunctional families, relationships, and mental health issues that he definitely doesn’t have. Definitely not. 

From the second he compared himself to the villain in a basketball movie, I was hooked. Kostelecky has a very American sense of humour but fits right in with the other Edinburgh comedians with his biting wit, often disguised with a bright tone and happy demeanour. In between his stories about his father leaving the family and his preference for weird women, he does some insane miming, managing to be expressive without saying a word. There are indeed some dark moments in the show, but I never felt uncomfortable. 

One of the most appealing things about Kostelecky’s style of comedy is his dedication to each component. If he’s going to make a joke, he’s going to go all out, regardless of the topic. Normally, if I heard a male comedian compare going down on a woman to hunting a deer, I would probably have been confused and not amused. But you have to laugh at how dedicated Kostelecky is to his craft, with physicality that has you cracking up over even the strangest subjects. 

Ultimately, Philipp Kostelecky: Daddy’s Home is a wonderful hour of standup that will leave you never looking at the word “Daddy” the same way again. Mostly because you’ve just heard an Austrian-American-Slovenian comedian who doesn’t want kids call himself that in a way that makes you both cringe and laugh at the same time. Kostelecky manages to be both cringeworthy and charming at the same time in a fascinatingly fantastic combination that will have you in stitches. And yes, he’s totally fine. Definitely.

Philipp Kostelecky: Daddy’s Home runs at the Stand Comedy Club 2 at Stand 2 at 16:00 from 2 to 27 August (not performance on 14 August).

Photo Credit: Rebecca Need-Menear

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