Edinburgh Fringe Festival Review: Elis James – Do You Remember The First Time?

Elis James: Do You Remember The First Time? (@elisjames)
Pleasance Courtyard: Attic, 8:15pm, 9-29 Aug
£9.50 / £8 Concession (edfringe.com)

http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/elis-james-do-you-remember-the-first-time

Three-word review: 2011′s hidden gem. Four Mikes

Elis James’s show was booked for me by a friend and even up to the point where we arrived at the venue we still couldn’t have told anyone his name. Our friends had been asking us all evening who we were going to see, and every time we answered with, “don’t know, some stand-up on a 2-4-1.” Unnervingly, my friend had started to draw comparisons with Rhod Gilbert based purely on the fact that they are both Welsh (edit – it turns out that James supported him on tour in 2008/9 – didn’t realise that until after the show was over). As a man who doesn’t particularly appreciate Gilbert’s shouty-sweary brand of humour, the very idea that they might be similar – no matter how unsubstantiated – made me worried.

I needn’t have been. Having taken our seats front-and-centre in the Pleasance Courtyard’s “Attic”, Elis bustled in like a precocious schoolboy and immediately set off on the audience – picking out a guy a couple of seats along from me and tearing into his half-British, half-American upbringing with aplomb. He got a bit lucky with his banter as he made a disparaging comment about the guy’s parents, who just happened to also be in the room – sitting at the back on the other side. A possible moment of awkwardness, having been obviously caught off-guard, was handled as if it had been scripted. Immediately you feel at ease; his body language is non-threatening, yet he speaks with such passion that you can’t help but be taken in.

The remaining warm-up chat was largely about the Welsh language and the way some phrases translate literally (and hilariously) into English; without wanting to spoil any of the punchlines, suffice to say that there were many chortles to be had in this little segment. It was slightly stereotypical but crucially not over-done – we were fed just enough to get us all laughing around in our seats without the joke becoming stale.

With everyone suitably in the mood, Elis launched into his main material with a confident, relaxed ease. The core of his show centers around a certain TV sports presenter with whom he has something of a fixation after a chance encounter as a 7-year-old that didn’t go entirely to plan. He also discusses moving to London from Wales with all the trimmings, a story about his dad advising him to wee in a swimming pool as a child (whatever you’re thinking, you’ll be surprised) and a couple of roaringly funny tales about adventures he’s had with some old school friends that almost had me crying – look out for one about carol singing, the premise of which is utterly absurd and the conclusion simply brilliant. The great thing about Elis, despite his clear adeptness at spinning the yarn, is that his anecdotes are the sorts of stories that you almost couldn’t make up because they seem so unlikely… and yet, they are also incredibly familiar, and you don’t for one moment consider that they might be untrue. There’s a fine line between all those things that Elis treads perfectly, barely missing a beat along the way and keeping the waves of laughter building up to crescendo.

With the whole room suitably red-faced, Elis wraps up with a comfortable segue to a further encounter with the aforementioned TV presenter, accompanied by another almost unbelievable story which was starting to sound far-fetched until he presented, via projector, a snippet from the Daily Mail covering the incident. By the time it was all over, my face was aching and my legs slapped to within an inch of their lives. On the way out I saw one girl having to wipe mascara-drenched tears from her face, and I left the venue unable to find any fault with the show whatsoever.

In the past, I’ve been out to much larger venues and seen comedians with far more fanfare with tickets costing a lot more money, but very few of them made me laugh as much as Elis James. His diminutive, self-deprecating and adorable comedy style combined with a tiny venue and not much publicity mean he is easy to miss; please, please make sure you don’t. I get the distinct impression he might not be stuck in the Attic for much longer.

Advertisement