Jason Manford – Edinburgh Festival August 2007
Having heard much about Jason Manford, I entered the packed theatre full of anticipation and hope. I was not disappointed. He’s at ease in front of an audience chatting to them as if they were sitting on the couch in the living room moving majestically from fireplace to shelving unit. Keeping us all engrossed with his stories and routines.
Manford has experienced success as a panelist on Channel 4’s ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’, and throughout his performance stayed true to the amiable, down-to-earth style of humour that he always possessed. His material could not be described as cutting edge – some of his jokes tackle very well-worn subjects such as footballers, Ryanair and how your dad drove when you were a kid, but Manford has an innate ability to take even the most obvious observations and make them seem fresh and still incredibly funny. He uses his Manchester childhood as a basis for some of his work and without any strong language draws a picture in our minds that leaves us in fits of laughter. Although everything about him and his style is constantly and proudly Mancunian, from Oasis as his intro’ music to gags about the late Bernard Manning and his Embassy club, Manford’s success lies in playing the role of the recognisable ‘funny bloke down the pub’ that all British people know and love.