@ The Blind Poet, Edinburgh, until Sat 29 Aug 2015 @ 17:15
Outside the venue, Aaron Twitchen is enthusiastically inviting people to his show, which is due to begin in five minutes. Wearing a vest that seems oddly out of place—an idiosyncrasy that he humorously notes in an anecdote later—he ushers the last few people inside and prepares for his set.
There is a lively chatter, and while not exceptionally busy, the turnout is not bad. When Twitchen takes the stage, he does a rather lengthy introduction before delving into the show specific material, which he has called Deadlines & Diets, an allusion to a Girls Aloud song.
For the most part, Twitchen is a competent comedian, aware of the audience’s perceptions, and he has an uncanny ability to steer things into laughter when they don’t initially follow the correct path, or when something goes wrong—and this is something he has to do multiple times throughout. Despite numerous setbacks, Twitchen soldiers on through his set, never allowing himself to be affected too greatly until the end, when he does become visibly hacked off, but still manages to get a laugh out of it.
The show is structured around him reading excerpts from a diary he kept as he was growing up, and while the concept sounds interesting, it does fall flat occasionally. This is not the only thing to fall flat, as near the end, Twitchen trips and is nearly crushed by one of the speakers, saved by a heroic audience member. In a different venue, with a more energetic crowd, the performance would probably be much more successful: this seems to be an off-day.
Whatever the case, Twitchen obviously shows huge potential, and he is worth going to see if you are around the area. Just be prepared for the occasional interruption.