It is easy to see why Kevin Bridges booked Evaldas Karosas as tour support. The Lithuanian-born comedian possesses a mix of down-to-earth charm and easy charisma liable to connect with an audience of any size. Beyond this, his distinct brand of Eastern European stand-up cuts right across class, gender, and standard societal divides.
He hits the ground running, mining his Lithuanian upbringing with belly-laugh-worthy results. His toxic relationship with Santa is a cracker (no apologies for the pun), whilst his unique relationship with wealth finds zingers in all sorts of places, whether exploring virtual porn or taking a peculiarly athletic approach to getting home after a night out.
He builds well from here, exploring his homeland’s lack of progressive thinking (even the landscape is somewhat hostile), whilst opening up about his, and his male friends’, struggles with mental health. It’s quite a balancing act really, hovering between poking holes in progressive ideas, and hinting they might not go far enough in some respects where the male species is concerned.
A satirical jab, for example, contrasts Western societies’ embrace of neurodivergence in the workplace with its treatment of those with schizophrenia. Sure, he gets plenty of chuckles when riffing on the complaints his schizophrenic friend might make to their boss, but there’s a nugget of something more serious underneath.
Of course, not everyone will appreciate his apparent conflation of neurodivergence and mental illness, but his heart is quite clearly in the right place, and he is speaking in a second language (where he is, he assured us, only at 60% of his full power.)
“It is easy to see why Kevin Bridges booked Evaldas Karosas as tour support.“
In safer territory, he finds plenty of fun in descriptions of a past relationship, haunted by the ghost of a sexually adept ex, and in contrasting the male and female experiences of a night out. His schtick regarding the status wars between Lithuania and other Eastern European states yields a fantastically close-to-the-bone jab at Bulgaria, whilst his reflections on app-dating provide some familiar fun.
The show, however, falters slightly in its later stages. Visions of a future filled with men sporting monstrously enhanced physiques, alongside a swipe at women reading fantasy romance on public transport, are fun enough. The payoffs, however, prove a little more predictable than the earlier material.
Yet whether he is raising an eyebrow at the ‘heightism’ infecting modern dating or building a well-received case for the corporal punishment of odious children, he remains consistently engaging. Even if they are coming a little less thick-and-fast, he has some cracking punchlines to serve till very near the end.
Overall, Karosas pulls off this set in the Cabaret Voltaire dungeon with style. A Very Capable Man is a very good show from a comedian with the potential to go far, even if its highest points suggest he can do even better. Even so, you can trust him to deliver some of the biggest laughs at this year’s Fringe.
Show details
Venue: Venue 338: Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire), 36-38 Blair Street, EH1 1QR (Google Maps)
Date(s): Mon 03 Aug to Sun 30 Aug (27 shows)
Time(s): 7:10pm (60 mins)
Age recommendation: 16+
Price: From £7
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