Marcus Birdman: Sympathy for the Devil ****

With a show title that alludes to the Rolling Stones and with a flyer that told me that Marcus Birdman was a commited atheist who was brought up by a vicar, this show looked very promising.... I am a massive Stones fan and a rampant atheist/humanist/secularist who can be very easily amused by blasphemy so this seemed to tick all the boxes.

I was given another freebie (Praise the Lord!!!) so I headed over to the Pleasance Dome - (the performance rooms are named after playing cards, this one being in what's know as the "10Dome").

Marcus was a very cheerful comedian. He tells some funny stories, gives us a critical examination of the bible and shares his philosophical outlook on life and wraps up the show reasonably well.

I thought he hit the nail on the head with all his observations - but in my case he was preaching to the converted. He was very competent and worth the money, but I didn't hear anything inspiring or original enough to really impress me.

If like me you have seeked out a lot of atheist comedians in the past, and watched/listened to the likes of Marcus Bridgestock or Pat Condell (other comedians with atheist/secular agendas that can be easily found on youtube and come highly recommended) then you won't find too much new within Marcus Birdman's show.

If you haven't before, and the topic of god being made up is something that may interest you, I would definately go and see it.

I tend to be rather generous when giving out stars - I've gone for four but it was probably more like three and a half, mainly because his ideas and jokes weren't all that new to me....

But he's a very competent comedian. You should definately go and see him.

Marcus Birdman: Sympathy for the Devil is on at 8.20pm at the Pleasance Dome.

4/5

http://www.edfringe.com/shows/detail.php?action=shows&id=206