REVIEW: Alexander Fox: Ringo – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

It’s the moments of pure storytelling that resonate most in Alexander Fox’s debut solo hour of original comedy: Ringo.

In 2006, a then teenaged Fox, met and began a pen-pal correspondence with the world’s most famous drummer, The Beatles’ Ringo Starr. What follows is an at times surreal, biographical tale, with appearances from the Cadbury’s gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight and Pingu; references to drumming movie Whiplash, as well as a whole lot of audience participation and good-natured banter.

For all the mad-cap antics it’s the moments of stillness and genuine emotion that are the most successful. Fox is a natural storyteller and easily grips the audience. He should be confident enough to rely on his considerable skills without resorting to some of the nonsense that litters the tale and takes it off on unnecessary tangents. There’s real potential here: the subject matter alone is enough to draw an audience, keeping the path of the narrative a little closer to the key material (or if the silliness were a bit more on-theme) could make this a universal winner.

Fox is genuinely charming and it’s easy to warm to him and he provides plenty of laughs throughout. He is naturally ebullient, but this is as much a negative as it is a positive, his youth and exuberance playing to the time-wasting interruptions from the audience rather than keeping it tight and on-point.

With a little bit of work, Alexander Fox: Ringo, could have a long life beyond an igloo on the green at The Pleasance for the Edinburgh Fringe.

Runs until 28 August 2017 | Image: Contributed

This review was originally published by The Reviews Hub