Tim FitzHigham: Gambler

Beardy comedian of holey tank top and threadbare mind, Tim FitzHigham (who you may recognise from such stunts as trying to cross the Channel in a steel bath), could probably give a PowerPoint presentation on grass bowls and still make it riveting, such is the Englishman's animated, near foaming-at-the-mouth enthusiasm. So imagine how much fun he is describing—with the aid of graphs, photos and video clips—a year lost to “gambling archaeology”, i.e. recreating harebrained bets by his gentlemen adventurer forebears.

FitzHigham has variously partaken in wagers with the likes of fellow comedian Alex Horne, Top Gear man Richard Hammond, snooker ace Steve Davis and, um, a farmer called Hektar involving everything from cycling to Dover and back before his opponent can draw one million dots, racing a wheelbarrow across London, playing a survival match against a champion chess player and rolling a cheese board through a field.

The upshot? A roundabout point about how modern economics has turned us all into gamblers of a sort – a theory FitzHigham was invited to present to the World Economic Forum in Vienna (honestly, we’re not making this stuff up). That's not to mention a partially severed finger, a broken rib, a fractured toe and his house being put up for sale.

Odds are on you’ll leave this show charmed, amused and a little bit exhausted. FitzHigham even hangs around the door on the way out giving hearty handshakes – just because you gamble with the family home doesn’t mean you aren’t a gent. You won’t stake a safer £12 at the Fringe.