Review: MILO EDWARDS: VOICEMAIL, Pleasance London

“You have all missed out on the lifeboats and I am the string quartet. Welcome.”

If the world is the Titanic, we are the people on the sinking ship and Milo Edwards is our entertainment as the ship goes down. After the wonderful Olga Koch opened the show, Edwards took to the stage to begin Voicemail, beginning with a bit about the different types of UK schools and a wild story about his ex-girlfriend and her belief in the extent that he would do things out of politeness.

The show then delves into the topic in the title, as Edwards tells us about how leaving voicemails is “dad shit,” and, though we laugh now, something that we do in this very moment will be considered “dad shit” as well in a few years.

It quickly becomes clear that Edwards has an obsession with time and mortality. To him, life is a “ticking time bomb” and “being alive is a degenerative condition.” When a loved one is faced with a cancer diagnosis, he is angry at the doctor for saying that they are giving them more time. He has a thing against the phrase “passed away.” The audience is split into two groups - “Dead Dad” and “Dad Yet to Die.” Not morbid enough? He’s even guessed what will be on his headstone - “Here lies Milo Edwards. He had two podcasts.”

If you’re looking for a polite comedian who will avoid dark topics, Edwards will definitely not be your cup of tea. Some of the topics discussed throughout the night include Prince Andrew, or as Edwards calls him, “Nonce Laureate,” how MILFs are a socio-economic category (prime example? “Stacy’s Mom”), dead dads and how suicide hotlines are lying to you when they say “There’s so much to live for.” 

The one emotion Edwards expresses the most? Anger. Whether it’s a rant against herons, blaming Fukuyama for history after 1992 or how environments “have salted the earth,” he has an opinion and you’re going to hear about it. But somehow, even with the anger coming through and revealing a level of despair for humanity, Edwards still manages to keep his audience on his side, laughing at his jokes no matter how far he takes them. 

One of my favourite jokes of the night came in the final section of the show, in which Edwards discusses the thought experiment in which people are asked what they would do if they were given a time machine. Quite a few people say they would go back in time and kill Hitler, but Edwards believes that one particular child who would grow up to cause destruction and chaos has already been dealt with. To quote Edwards, “If all you have is a big hammer, all you see are babies.”

Ultimately, Milo Edwards: Voicemail is a great show that tackles difficult concepts including time, death and climate change in a manner that will have you laughing until your cheeks hurt.

With a quick wit and dark sense of humour, Edwards might just make you feel a little better about the world collapsing around you. 

Milo Edwards: Voicemail ran on 11 February at Pleasance London.

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