The big question in the lengthy queue awaiting Ed Night’s new hour: would the once-sardonic outsider be all giddily upbeat after that Best Show nomination last year? Or relatively speaking, anyway. But no, he didn’t win, did he? And bigger issues are afoot.
A broken foot, in fact. Night hobbles to the stage, supported by crutch and boot, having hastily rewritten the show due to that elephant in the room. “Not all disabilities are invisible,” he winces, while suggesting that several contemporaries have expressed envy at such a handy theme falling into his lap.
The injury gets a good going-over early on, but still intact are his just-relatable-enough cultural references, several of which clearly sail over numerous heads. There are some lovely gags, skillfully told: one about a famous US court case earns applause (but would probably sound anemic in a Best Joke list). Perhaps it’s the current indisposition, but Night is as reflective as he is furtively mischievous here, bemoaning financial insecurity – his living arrangements remain modest – while also revealing the mental health struggles that underpin everything.
But he doesn’t dwell on anything for long, and you can’t blame the limping comic for getting off fairly sharpish. A set as tight as his London flat.
Ed Night: We’ll Be Alright, Darling, Monkey Barrel Comedy, until 30 Aug, 4.45pm