Comedy Review: Jack Of The Road // Sam See - Edinburgh Fringe 2020

Broadcasting live from Singapore and staying up until 3am over there to do the show, Sam See is a picture of dedication. Part of the Free Fringe ‘s online programme, See occasionally gets lost in his own trips down memory lane but the show is saved by his infectious personality and timing.

“It’s just going to be me ripping off Dark Room for an hour, gang,” he warns the crowd in the online chat just before the show starts. See tells the audience that he has performed in over 180 different venues, and has an amusing anecdote prepared for practically all of them. Suggesting his personal favourite, viewers select what number they want to hear about and See goes off on numerous tangents describing what went down in that venue.

See is a great personality, holding his own show well with an approach that wavers from razor sharp to self-depreciating. He is often the butt of his own jokes - “I know I’m Chinese, but I can’t spread Covid through the camera. The only thing we can spread is communism.”

His mixture of exasperation and delight at some of his stories makes for great viewing, and you can’t help but picture how animated he would be telling these stories on a physical stage. He is very open about times where he misstepped or lost the audience; his recollection of a dark joke at a birthday party proving both cringeworthy and entertaining.

Jack of the Road can feel a little slow to kick off while See explains the format, and sometimes he ends up going down multiple threads on his stories to the point where he almost loses you. But he always brings it back with a sense of humour that will make you happy to be in on the joke. His cheerful demeanour and some sensational wit make his show worth the journey.

Words by James Hanton

Originally published at https://www.indiependent.co.uk on August 11, 2020.