Wrestling and comedy often make pleasant bed fellows. Be it from people such as Santino Marella and Hornswaggle of 2010 to the olden days with the Honky Tonk Man's spoof of Elvis and the babyface Doink and Dink. And it's not just in wrestling shows themselves. These days people like Mick Foley and Colt Cabana partake in actual stand-up comedy shows in clubs around the country. It's not always successful by any stretch of the imagination, but it has, at least since I've been alive, always been there in some degree.

The year: 2004. The place: Pleasance Ace Dome, Edinburgh. The first Edinburgh Fringe I had ever worked. And at times during that long, long month, I wondered if I could ever formulate a show based around wrestling and it's silly intricacies and foibles. I came to the conclusion there was probably something there, but it would take someone better than me (that is to say someone that is something of a stand up comedian and not a long time wannabe/admirer of the art-form) to do it.

The year: 2010. The place: A function room of Edinburgh City Football Club. A better man did come up with something. Lorcan McGrath (which isn't his real name, which is given away by his own flyer which refers to him as Liam as well as Lorcan) has constructed a show around his life as a wrestling fan. And he's not any ordinary wrestling fan, but a "smart" wrestling fan. Not that he seems to partake in the "smart" end of it much these days as he expresses a disdain for the "IWC" scene, although I suspect he mostly frequented the UKFF message boards, which is often enough to drive a normal person insane.

He's still a wrestling fan however, and this show is based around the five worst things about being a wrestling fan, one of which is HIMSELF. However, it's not all just wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. He touches on subjects such as family Christmases, his local nightclub scene and racism during the show as well as having some interesting ideas behind the entirely coincidental psychology of the Austin/McMahon feud when Mankind was really the hero Austin was portraying and indeed how Freudian Mick Foley actually was.

That said, while you don't have to be a hardcore wrestling fan to know what is going on, and indeed, lack of knowledge comes in especially handy in a quiz he gives the audience 3/4 of the way through the show, a knowledge of wrestling certainly helps greatly. The how spoke to me as, I believe, McGrath and I are of roughly the same age, because this show is based almost entirely around the late 80's and late 90s, between the long list of people who got their hands on WWF tapes to latter day contempt for fans who take things a little too far when attending live shows. Suffice to say however I found myself, a lot of the time, totally identifying with his thoughts on most, if not all, the subjects touched.

What isn't in this show (not that I'm saying it should necessarily, just stating the facts) is really anything up to date in terms of what's happening. This is 100% a "WWF" show. A couple of brief mentions of it being now WWE and absolutely nothing on TNA, despite the obvious comedy goldmines that lay in that subject. As it goes, the most recent the show gets (outside of a fairly spectacular piece of recollection where he recites every IC Title holder (all 64 of them in LESS THAN a minute), thus mentions the likes of Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler, which leads to a really funny bit about a tournament he held in his own head to crown the bets IC Champion of all time (SPOILER:  Bret Hart won...) . And indeed, there is only one mention of WCW at all, and again, that refers back to the early 90's in a taping snafu that sent McGrath into a fit of rage.

So, overall, there's some polishing that needs to be done to it and I felt a couple of the jokes fall flat, although none of them were specifically "wrestling" ones, and that's not to say I jokes i didn't care for were bereft of any potential. Just some honing and making punchier. But all in all, as a wrestling fan, nearing 30 years of age, this was a fine show, and definitely something to check out if you can find him on the circuit, and even if he steps away from this show and moves onto another subject, he is a witty and engaging performer..

Oh, and since both wrestling shows and Fringe shows are usually scored on using stars, let's just stick with this convention and say that overall, for the show I saw - ***3/4

If you want to follow Lorcan McGrath, his twitter is at http://www.twitter.com/lorcanmcgrath