Marc Jennings might not be the most accomplished storytelling comic, social commentator or political satirist. But as a combination of the three, he’s grown into one of the most versatile, multi-faceted and strongest all-round stand-ups working out of Scotland. Given the SNP’s recent travails and the sheer cringeworthy ridiculousness of the motorhome debacle, it’s frustrating that more comics aren’t addressing what’s happening in Holyrood. Jennings doesn’t go too deep but he’s inventively mocking, without crossing into gratuitously offensive in his analysis of the Sturgeon-Murrell marriage. And he’s outright rascally in his suggestion for combining prison reform with boosting Scottish football.
Though he puts everything in service to the joke, simply addressing the creeping rise of nationalism in this country makes him an outlier and he has a definitive point-of-view in rejecting any I’m Alright Jack mentality when it comes to acknowledging the downtrodden. All of which may seem like basic humanity and to damn him with parochialism, when in reality he’s addressing a dearth of Scotland-focused material that’s never more striking than at the Fringe. Besides, he’s got universal gear as well, self-consciously sitting down to share an extended tale from his single life. Evocative for the impact of the stand-up’s lifestyle on relationships, it’s a knotty story that eschews over-simplification. But while it could maybe do with a little judicious editing, it’s involving enough, further evidence that he can work effectively at different paces and tones.
Marc Jennings: If & When, Monkey Barrel Comedy, until 30 Aug, various times