Review: Steve Day – Run, deaf Boy Run – The Stand, Edinburgh

Steve Day

Steve Day is Britain’s only deaf comedian and the fear as he bounds onto the stage early on a Sunday afternoon is that he’ll keep banging on about it. Call me a dick if you like, but I was hoping for something a bit better than that when I walked into The Stand 2. Thankfully, he delivered the goods.

This is the tale of Steve Day, an unfit and disabled 47 year old stand-up comedian, whose petulant competitive streak leads to him signing up to run a marathon, despite not even being able to run 400 yards at the start of his training. Day takes us through the tale and we zip along at a lovely pace (if you’ll pardon the running pun). He takes us through why he wanted (and needed) to run, how he got started, his training and the marathon itself, all brilliantly interwoven with tales of life at home during the same period.

It’s not the greatest hour of comedy ever written – even Day hints at this towards the end of his show – but he’s on early in the day and the room stays warm throughout. Not because of any heating issues, but because of the love the audience are giving him. It’s impossible not to warm to him. He’s a fantastic story-teller who attracts real affection and you have total faith that you’re in safe hands.

It’s not a show that will leave you flat on the floor with laughter, but ultimately it’s a feel-good show with plenty of laughs that will start any day off perfectly. I toyed with giving this three stars, but it’s a show constructed excellently that leaves you with a real buzz, with laughs throughout and no time for your attention to wander, and Day is such an engaging presence that three stars seems far too low for a show of this quality.

Date of live review: Sunday 21st August 2011.