As their power to command diminishes, the wealthy have launched their charm offensive. Finlay Christie admits that he has wealthy parents, that he went to private school and hopes that his amiability and easy humour will save him when the revolution comes.
His routines involve the various misadventures his privilege has led him through: robbed in New Orleans, accidentally making women fall in love with him, having a fascination with North Korean propaganda. He’s a bit bemused by other cultures, but he loves them. He develops a funny routine about Britain being invited back for another go at being an empire that betrays the bland insouciance of the comfortably white and male.
There is little originally in his persona or observations, and he laughs at his own vanity and naivety. Yet the set is unstructured – he repeatedly checks his notes for the next bit – and his style – laid back and winsome – prevents his observations from being trenchant.
His tale of being robbed is an amusing ramble, and his sense of his own absurdity is winning. But his lack of urgency and celebration of an upper-middle class invulnerability renders his punchlines flaccid and his confidence a jarring disconnect with the present political moment.
Finlay Christie: Champagne Casanova, Monkey Barrel Comedy, until 30 Aug (not 18), various times