It’s fair to say that the Edinburgh Festival has an awful lot of comedians in one fairly small space and a very narrow period of time. With comedy it’s tempting to stick with things that you know and remain unchallenged; the problem is that you don’t know what you don’t know and a funnier thing might be right around the corner.

Paul Foot’s Swan Power might be the sort of thing that you’re looking for, if you like your laughter ever so slightly uncomfortable. This is a one-hour stand-up show where we veer from topic to topic, with the subjects from pandas to spec-savers and everything in between.

Paul Foot’s craft is near perfect; his timing is perfectly pitched, the set-up and delivery are top-tier and he exudes a sort of weird, spider-like energy that is extremely engaging. The comic skill is very much there and it’s always a pleasure to watch an expert at work.

The material and humour itself is very English. It’s mostly based in tragedy and loss; with death frequently being the punchline, or a  comic misunderstanding as to why an awful thing is awful. The jokes get funnier as they get darker, but this is very much a show for the Gin-Drinkers and dark coffee lovers. There’s an air of malice to the entire show, one for those with a darker sensibility.

Paul Foot – Swan Power is just on the right side of malevolent, but very much an acquired taste. Go if you dare. Tickets can be found here.