Darran Griffiths starts off his Fringe debut with a light-hearted array of jokes about his life as a black man from Essex. He hits all of the classic expected talking points, race, sex, and his dating history. All of them are great subjects that have the crowd on his side.
However, Griffiths gets serious when he moves onto the main topic of his show – his fertility issues and the lengthy IVF process he and his wife went through to conceive their first child. Whilst he doesn’t miss out on the chance to mine the subject matter for jokes, Griffiths makes sure to emphasise the emotional impact of the whole experience on him and his wife. He notes at one point how they were worried that their child would have chromosomal abnormalities, whilst also noting the racial inequalities within the information provided by medical services.
He does a great job in ensuring that the effect the whole process had on his wife is also acknowledged, showing a sensitivity that contrasts nicely with the more blokey opening. What comes across is that the experience changed Griffiths as a person for the better, with a joke beforehand about bedtime stories showing how he’s managed to adjust to fatherhood without going too soft.
‘Inconceivable‘ is a consistently funny, emotionally-powerful, and ultimately uplifting show about an issue that affects many that avoids preachiness at all costs. Griffiths is a confident performer with an undeniable stage presence and a great ability to flip between funny and serious – let’s hope he returns to Edinburgh next year.
‘Inconceivable’ runs until Sun 27 Aug 2023 at Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One at 16:45