Kieran Hodgson is Scottish, he says proudly.
If this isn’t obvious, surely his polite, enthusiastic, middle-class English accent is enough to convince us of the truth of the matter. No?
Okay, he was raised in Yorkshire and has spent much of his adult life in London – but Kieran Hodgson the comedian was very much made in Scotland.
First he cut his teeth on clever coming-of-age storytelling shows like this one, on subjects such as his misguided hero worship of Lance Armstrong and his relationship with classical music, which hoovered up acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe.
It’s his role as Gordon in hit Scottish sitcom Two Doors Down that he’s more widely known for, though, and this show is about the struggle to find his identity after he and his husband moved up for the show in 2017.
An excellent impersonator, Hodgson brings in guest characters, real and imagined, to help him on his journey.
These include Gordon Brown (Hodgson’s favourite prime minister of his lifetime – a low bar – who dispenses soundbite wisdom), his co-star Elaine C Smith (who’s lovely, but visibly bristles when he trots out received cliches about Scottish accents and politics) and Margaret Thatcher (what Hodgson sounds like when he delivers those cliches).
Turning on the conceit that giving a selfish best man’s speech means he needs to discover a better version of himself by being Scottish, he manages to make personal journey into an excuse to poke fun at himself and life’s absurdities.
At its best, the show pricks the bubble of what your average, half-engaged English person thinks they know about Scotland.
Yet it also turns a mirror on Scotland itself, which more often than not is effective.
The one bum note comes when he portrays those interested in Gaelic language education as middle-class racists, yet he’s redeemed somewhat by his own reasonably good Gaelic and an imagined conversation in Tyndrum which questions the reality and appropriation of Highland culture.
Otherwise it’s a really heartfelt and clever show, with jokes about macaroni pies and Arnold Clark cars that show Hodgson’s familiar with his new home.
Few things, of course, are more Scottish than laughter in the face of adversity.
Run ended. For more Scottish tour dates next March, see the Berk’s Nest website.
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