Simon Brodkin is Lee Nelson

At last year’s Fringe,the newcomer Simon Brodkin played a series of characters in One Man Comedy Club. Brodkin delivered funny, mannered monologues in varying personae – he was an Asian doctor, a holiday rep, a young delinquent. This year sees his return to character comedy with an hour long show in the guise of Lee Nelson, the brash yob of his 2007 act, complete with tattoos and a tracksuit.

Unfortunately, Lee Nelson is as one dimensional as his outfit would suggest. He is a ‘chav’ and so his behaviour is defined in whole by the reach of an abstract stereotype. All of the standard gags are present – Lee flies Ryanair, his hooker wife is called Amber and he displays his limited intelligence like the gaudy chain around his neck. The principle problem with such a character is the size of the trail blazed by his forerunners – Vicky Pollard and Lauren Cooper have solidly defined the chav model and to refuse to deviate from their culturally ingrained pastiches is to wallow in an increasingly tired form of folk devilry. In spite of this, there are funny moments and his interactions with the audience often display a finely tuned wit, yet all too often these high points are eclipsed by the plodding, expected punch lines of very typical jokes.

Brodkin may be a fine young comic, but he struggles to add anything new to a character fast declining in relevance.