Ross Noble, Edinburgh Playhouse

His new show is clever, surprising and long on laughs. Maybe too long

by Graeme ThomsonThursday, 07 October 2010

Ross Noble: 'A confused man being poked with a stick'

Call a comic surreal and you hand him or her a licence to be as self-indulgent as they desire. Think of Vic Reeves, who long ago started believing that the mere proximity to one another of words like "bacon", "kazoo" and "Manama" was sufficiently hilarious to bring down the house. Ross Noble is, we are frequently told, a surreal comedian. His new show certainly contains enough references to "dwarves in sombreros" and "shaven suicide monkeys" to ensure that its title, Nonsensory Overload, comfortably adheres to the terms of the Trade Descriptions Act.

Noble is his own concept, and his show contrives to appear as though it's one long digression

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