Edinburgh Fringe review: Lloyd Langford, Old Fashioned
Lloyd Langford’s monotone delivery combined with his own admittance of being “a bit old fashioned” gives the impression that he must be a bit of a grump. That’s somewhat true, but thankfully for his audience, he is a very funny and likeable one.
Langford takes aim at all the areas of modern life, which he believes to be pointless, or moving too fast. The comedic strength of his act is that even in some of the more surreal or over the top solutions and punishments he offers for offenders to his vision of a perfect world, the audience find themselves nodding along, or considering that he has a point.
Most of what Lloyd has a problem with in the world are common grievances of today’s world and so the material is relatable, grounded in the everyday and well received by a near sell-out crowd. Audience members could be seen nudging each other, pointing at their significant others and on several occasions there were audible “you do that!” exclamations.
The best material comes when Lloyd takes aim at the more obscure or sensitive topics. To see the boyish face of the lovely Lloyd make a rare foray into dark territory or move into more controversial territory is exciting and always funny. Lloyd clearly has a very quick wit and it would definitely benefit him to indulge in more comedy in taboo subjects.
As a storyteller, some stories felt stretched out and slowed the pace of a show, which was riding a wave of continuous laughter. The show in general seemed to slow towards the end as Lloyd started to feel the heat in the sweaty venue, taking more regular stops to have a drink, which, while fine and necessary, unfortunately broke up his jokes and stunted their delivery. Perhaps some investment in cooling the venue could help Lloyd and fellow comics at the Jack Dome for the rest of the Fringe.
All in all, Old Fashioned is a well-written, funny hour of relatable stand-up with an endearing performer. Well worth your time.
Date of live review: 7 August 2014 @ Jack Dome, Pleasance Dome
