Australian comic Amos Gill is bringing a stand out Stand-Up set to Fringe 2023! ‘The Pursuit of Happy(ish)’ might be best described as razor sharp observation comedy from a comic on the path to stoicism. You might not agree with him, but you’ll want to hear him out, and cackle your backside off whilst you’re at it.
Amos Gill is developing an unusual worldview for your typical Fringe comedian. It’s not that he’s not progressive, only that he’s dubious of the hypothetical libertine endgame of unquestioned progressive ideology. Taking himself, in the main, as the example, his set sets out to prove this hypothesis.
A great deal of his schtick is derived from his family life, particularly his mother’s love-life, and his grandfather’s long, successful marriage, now spent caring for his dementia-stricken spouse. This may not seem like rich pickings for the hilarous, but you’d be very wrong. Instead, his initial horror at his grandfather having to provide sanitary cleaning, will be returned to with fresh eyes towards the end of the hour.
His mother’s current marriage to an unethically rich, but nice guy, on the other hand is perfect, giving Gill plenty of chances to discuss the effects of money on his attitudes. Suffice to say they’ve evolved quickly, and he’s not sad about it, though the homicidal intrusive thoughts are new.
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Delving further into what you might sum up as his ‘libertine’ weaknesses, Gill doesn’t spare himself from outlining details of his dating shallowness, and his routine on his low ebbs are horrifically fabulous. Crunchy beds, that’s all I’m saying.
Then there’s reflections on the age of OnlyFans, and the new age of bullying this must be ushering into playgrounds across the world. It’s funny, because it’s true! When he comes to the importance of adoption as a moral good people can do for society, one doubts adoption charities are going to ask him to write any copy. His ideas are, however, logically coherent, which makes them all the funnier!
I’m willing to overlook his outdated views on the quality of British food, which has been for sometime, great, and of a far, far better general standard than that found in many of the world’s popular destinations. Fair play if he doesn’t like the weather though, even if that’s not very stoic of him. Fortunately this is a small part of the show, and is easily overlooked; I’m just representing.
No one is safe from his scorn however, from the ‘do you consent for me to talk to you’ posse, to the ‘let’s discuss last night’s sexual adventure’ crowd. To Gill’s mind, the best path to being happy(ish) isn’t to be found at the extremes. Yes, people do have serious mental healthy challenges to confront, but there are also good, logical reasons to be depressed. The former, and the latter have different solutions, and Gill is here to suggest a remedy to the latter: do something.
Again, you might not agree, but for all the bluster about being an edgy comedian not afraid to challenge progressive ideas, Amos Gill is making case, not spewing insults. It’s not clear if he can stop his self-destructive habits, or dating the hottest girl who will have him despite her personality, but he definitely wants to. His Croation grandfather, after all, is giving him all the example he needs, and maybe, just maybe Gill will learn to take the same pleasure in a chair, as his dad’s dad. For now, he’s got plenty of material when contrasting the attitude of his Croation ancestors, to the rest!
Amos Gill: The Pursuit of Happy(ish) offers consistent hilarity, and a surprising amount of food for thought. Sure he’s a bit crude, but there’s no content here which Billy Connolly would balk at, or be afraid to double or triple down on. So go catch the dude, again you might not agree, but you’ll laugh…and you’ll think.
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