Off to the depths of the Hive, for the first time in quite some time I think, for Alex Kealy, who did a what now feels like mid-stage WIP of this at OPPO some time ago. I tend to try not to double up Edinburgh shows and OPPO headliners, but sometimes slots need filling, and when that’s the case, I’d rather it be someeone I know and trust. Enter Kealy.
The Fear is a strong, solid Fringe hour of loosely connected routines on a theme, wrapped up with a nice set piece at the end. In this instance, the theme is broadly self-evident from the title, specifically that of the fear of death, but also anxiety in general, and as applied to his newly formed marriage.
He’s a good writer, but sometimes it does feel like there’s a division happening; two halves of the same man. Sometimes he has a very strong voice, more in the phrasing or ways with words, but sometimes the more joke-shaped jokes are a bit less voiced, a bit more mechanical. “x is like y, in that z”.
That voice really does shine through in the more personable moments of the show, though, specifically today in a quite minor yet still quite disruptive tech problem with the projector, and the way he handled and approached that was very much “in character”, which does lend a sense of verisimilitude to the rest of the show as written.
I do wonder if, for me specifically, there’s an element of how much I can see Alex Kealy being the kind of comedian I think I could/might be? I know a large part of me wants to be the Daniel Kitson/staggering heartbreaking genius etc. kind of comedian, but yes, there is also the idea of being this erudite, intellectual, precise comedian, and I can see how I see that.