Adam Riches - Alpha Males

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A mounting desperation hangs about the sweaty game show host of Adam Riches’ Alpha Males like a bad smell. Quiz Jay, the manically-grinning presenter of a call-and-win TV channel, faces nightly ridicule from prank callers that taunt him live on air. “Where are you from, fella?” he asks to camera, with characteristic over-exuberance forced out through gritted teeth, “And for five hundred pounds, what’s your word?” An excruciating pause follows. “Cunt” replies the caller.

It is the awful familiarity of Riches’ male personas that renders his one-man show stomach-achingly funny. All five are failures in some way: mocked, outcast, washed up. And all exhibit a distinctive set of repulsive characteristics that the comic exploits with brutal and brilliant relish.

While Riches dazzles as Quiz Jay, Teddy Dish, an ex-member of various failed boybands, and Victor Legit, the maverick copyright enforcer of his 2007 Fringe show, some of his other characters are overly farcical. As the Australian barman Connor Connorson, for example, he demands a level of audience participation that adds little to the performance. But Riches’ innovative script and charismatic delivery save even the weaker characters, and the hilarious voice-over that accompanies his frantic costume changes prevents the show from ever lagging.

Decent stand-ups are ten-a-penny at the Fringe, but quality character-based comics are a much rarer breed. It is exciting to see such flair and imagination in this often pitifully represented field.