Alex Edelman's Show Is Some Of The Best Stand Up You'll See

Londonist Rating: ★★★★☆

"Well, that's a five star review," said our companion as we exited the sweaty confines of the Soho Theatre Upstairs. You, dear reader, need only flick your eyes briefly upwards to see that's not how things panned out, and what you're about to get is a meta-review. Lucky you.

Alex Edelman won Best Newcomer at last year's Edinburgh Awards with his show Millennial, and it is a cracking stand-up show. There's not an ounce of flabby material in there — as was pointed out during the discussion/argument that continued all the way down Dean Street and into the pub — as Edelman examines his own life in all its Gen Y (lack of) glory. He's an East Coast Jew and so we hesitate to make this next reference, but he's a lot like early Woody Allen in his sharp self deprecation and bulletlike precision of language. The show feels like it's been in the making for a long time: honed without being overworked, slick but not smug. It is, in short, one of the best stand up shows we've seen in a long time.

So why not just hand over the extra star? Hells bells, Londonist, what's wrong with you? Look. Millennial is an excellent, appealing, very funny autobiographical stand-up show. But it's still an autobiographical stand-up show. It's not messing with narrative structures. It's not masterful storytelling with an undercurrent of something dark and disturbing. It didn't bludgeon us over the head by being completely unhinged. It's stand-up. Good, accessible stand-up. You'll tell your friends, but you won't scream at them in the pub that they're idiots who'll be missing out if they don't book pronto.

The row about that missing star, however, is going to run and run in the office. Please send cake and paracetamol.

Alex Edelman: Millennial is on at the Soho Theatre, Dean Street, until 31 January. Tickets £10-£15. Londonist saw this performance on a complimentary ticket.