Review: EDINBURGH 2024: IVO GRAHAM: GRAND DESIGNS, Pleasance Courtyard

“Electro swing is not a fashionable genre, but I am not a fashionable man”

Ivo Graham: Grand Designs is a show, according to Graham, made up of lists to deal with the chaos that the comedian has been facing. Throughout the hour we have with him, Graham discusses his love for football, his family and friends and how music has made an impact on his life. There is also a focus on how so many people have a desire to be a part of communal moments, inspired by a drinking game for Grand Designs, hosted by Kevin McCloud.

One of the main subjects that Graham discusses during Grand Design is the friendship he has with fellow comedian, Alex Kealy - the two had first met at Eton. While describing the differences between himself and Kealy, Graham tells the audience, “I’ve been on Taskmaster and he’s got a wife.” Indeed, Kealy’s marriage is a focus, with Graham talking about his top regrets from planning Kealy’s stag and how he nearly ruined the wedding with Krispy Kreme donut rings. I would have loved to hear some of Graham’s best man speech but understand him not reading it for what I assume to be privacy. 

After discussing Kealy’s wedding, Graham then focuses on his own family, particularly on how they express their love for one another through snacks and music, something that he has passed onto his daughter. There is a hilarious moment in which Graham jokes about training his daughter to attack Taylor Swift haters on social media. I also loved how Graham compared his daughter receiving stuffed animals of Frozen’s Olaf and Sven and then a book, A Street Through Time, to the infamous lineup of Slipknot, Daphnes and Celeste and Rage Against the Machine at Reading Festival.

Along with his own storytelling, Graham takes advantage of the large space to have a giant screen on stage, showing off different slides, including a fantastic Venn Diagram of his target audience. He shows off photos of who he considers to be the “patron saint of nice men out of their depth,” Gareth Southgate and Simon Ferry, a footballer Graham met at the Fringe in 2018. 

There is a small amount of audience interaction, which is mostly dedicated to one man in the front row who appears to have had a similar childhood to Graham, drawing him to ask him questions throughout the show. Graham also warns audience members against searching themselves up on social media sites like Reddit, showing someone’s comment about him about an episode of Taskmaster that states, “I found Ivo so attractive in general throughout this whole series. I guess I just love sad, pathetic men.” (to be honest, who doesn’t?).

At the end of the show, Graham invites a fan of LCD Soundsystem onto the stage to help him celebrate the end of the show using the iconic beat drop of “Dance Yrself Clean.” Unfortunately, just as the countdown is beginning for the perfect moment, Graham trips on a cord and the computer is disconnected from the scene, taking away all of the carefully-planned synchrony. However, even with this mistake, the ending is still great, making for a memorable moment that audience members were discussing long after the show had ended. 

Ivo Graham: Grand Designs is the perfect example of how storytelling and comedy can be combined for a brilliant hour. Graham is one of the best comedians - if not the best-  in the game and I look forward to what he brings next to the stage.

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