Words: Elodie Marriott 
Image: Rebecca Need-Menear

4 stars

Just about everything that could go wrong with Finlay Christie’s crowd work, does. An elderly woman begs him not to talk to her, uncooperative front row-ers refuse to divulge the secret for a happy marriage, and someone even interrupts the set halfway through to ask us (a room full of people and comedian pre-punchline) if this is the toilet. Despite the chaos, Christie is unfazed. As he told us earlier on in the show, if he’s shit, he’s just going to keep on doing it. He’s got rich parents, you see.

Christie’s formula becomes pretty apparent after the first few jokes. Make an outrageous statement concerning controversial topics such as incels, sex islands, or Kim Jong-Un (just to name a few), and watch the crowd get tense. But unlike some of the edgier comedians who also use the ‘intentionally contentious’ tactic, what follows are well-crafted gags that are more silly than they are taboo.

He centres the show around a laddish anecdote about a threesome turned robbery in New Orleans. Though it swings in and out of believability, the tale is undoubtedly amusing. Christie leaves his best skit about Britain’s decline and the seductive pull of ‘doing Empire’ again until the very end of his set. On this occasion, his interactions with the audience may have crashed and burned, but Champagne Casanova certainly ended with a bang.

Finlay Christie: Champagne Casanova
Monkey Barrel 4 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
Various times
3-30 Aug