★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Another solid hour from a comedian who always delivers.
Diabetic comedian Ed Gamble has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival since 2008, spending two years with Nish Kumar, Tom Neenan and Jez Scharf as part of Coolfun Comedy, three years with Ray Peacock as Peacock & Gamble and now five years on his own with.
Blizzard is another solid hour from a comedian who always delivers and after selling out his entire run in the first week of the festival starting, selling out his two extra shows and having to add a third, it's never been clearer that Ed Gamble has become a Fringe staple.
With such strong ticket sales, it comes as no surprise that embarking on a 44-date nationwide tour from January 2019 was the right decision.
You might have noticed that I decided to label Ed as a "diabetic comedian" at the start of my review and that was deliberate. Blizzard begins with Ed telling the audience about the time him and three other comedians were stuck in New York due to a blizzard and it made the BBC News website. Only Ed was described as a "diabetic comedian", a label he was less than pleased with.
Whilst confident that comedy about diabetes demands knowledge most audiences won't have and therefore won't work, Ed does launch into a routine about diabetes that lo and behold works! After a quick 101 on diabetes, Ed talks about being mistaken for a drug addict and having to carry jelly babies everywhere... awkward when around children.
Alongside tales of getting stuck in New York and having type 1 diabetes, Ed shares with us what happened when he decided to go on a lone trip to the Edinburgh Dungeons. A tale which worked incredibly well and was met with huge laughter.
When we start to look for the next comedian who will break through to the mainstream, I believe that we have to look no further than Ed Gamble. He's proved that he can deliver a great hour year after year and through consistent gigging (and multiple Mock The Week appearances) has built up quite the audience.
Ed Gamble: Blizzard runs until 26th August at 7:40pm at The Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Above). Book tickets here.
Tickets for Ed Gamble's nationwide tour are available here.
(This review was based on the performance from Monday 20th August 2018)