At this year’s Fringe, Matt Forde – inadvertently – raised an interesting point of discussion. His show was the most expensive we saw at the festival. And arguably, that should factor into any review. For context, our second-priciest ticket (a full £4 cheaper) got us five hours of entertainment and eight clowns!

Our political clown is clearly an experienced, talented performer. He commands the room with confidence and breezes through anecdotes with ease.

His impressions of political figures are particularly strong – his Trump is excellent – and he uses these voices to drive his points home.

The problem? Every political comic has “a Trump”. And every one of them is making the same gags. From The Young Turks to Ian Hislop to Stephen Colbert, this is well-trodden ground.

The material feels unoriginal, safe, and designed to pander to his base. So much so, in fact, that he even pauses to defend the opinions of angry old white men… which makes sense once you scan the demographic of his audience.

At times he veers away from politics and talks about his recent battle with cancer – though still framed through a political lens. This material is by far the strongest in the set: personal, powerful, and genuinely moving.

But it doesn’t take long before Forde returns to Labour/Reform/Trump. And it’s here we yearned for a bit of Mark Thomas-style bite. If you’re going to take on politics, and charge top-end prices, at least be brave. Pull no punches. Even comedians like Pierre Novellie and Andrew Maxwell, whose sets are more broad-ranging in their scope, offer more astute and memorable takes on the current political landscape. Yes, softly softly can get more bums on seats… but at times, with his over-reliance on impressions, Forde risks becoming a House of Lords Michael McIntyre. 

In the end, this is a four-star raconteur delivering a three-star show at five-star prices. 

Clown Stars: * * *

@The Pleasance, Edinburgh