Little Lark of London

“I vape. That’s all you need to know”

Ed Gamble: Hot Diggity Dog is a show full of “classic Gamble ranting, raving and spluttering,” as promised by the show’s description. Gamble’s opener, Chloe Petts, is a fantastic comedian in her own right, doing some great crowd work with a man in the front row, Joey, as well as another person who has taken off their shoes, leading to a “Choose Your Own Adventure” with the audience of whether taking your shoes off at a comedy show is acceptable or not. She had a great save after an awkward moment of crowd work, leading to the hilarious line, “All we needed was a One Direction pun to get us back from Israel.” I also loved her bit about what she refers to as “Football Twitter guys,” leading into a section on the joy of toxicity in men’s football. 

Gamble begins with some light crowd work before going into his hatred for hypocrisy in comedy, an ironic bit because, as he mentions, when he mentions something in a comedy show that he hates, he tends to be a part of it three years later (I wonder what parts of this show will fulfill that self-made prophecy?). The first part of the show is about the joy that Gamble finds within the neighbourhood WhatsApp group, including a particularly enthusiastic man named Marcus who is determined to help solve an unusual mystery that has taken place. It is around this point that we find out Gamble is married, which he apologises for, poking fun at people who might have come to the show thinking they had a chance with him. 

Once we are introduce to Gamble’s wife and his neighbourhood, we go into details on the honeymoon the couple went on in Las Vegas. When listening to Gamble, you might assume that Las Vegas would not be the top choice for his honeymoon, and you’d be correct – he claims tha they only went to prove their friends wrong, to prove that “We’re Las Vegas people.” You might assume that things go horribly wrong and, once again, you’d be correct. Gamble tells a range of stories during his time in “Sin City” including renewing his vows three days after his actual marriage, being a “narcotics guinea pig” for his wife, going to a drag brunch and having to deal with countless Americans making comments on his last name in context with Las Vegas. 

After some wild stories, Gamble focuses more on his domestic life, telling a story about what might be the funniest of “preventable middle-class injuries” involving him insisting on using a mandolin slice to make potato dauphinoise, a statement even Gamble admits is a bit ridiculous, confessing to his guilt over wasting the time of those working at the A&E. There is also a segment on Gamble’s cat, whoo he treats like a human child, declaring, “I’m a weird cat guy and proud” before turning anxious and wondering if he has turned into “Cat-Fritzl.”

Some of the highlights come from the more unscripted moments, including one in which Gamble is completely unable to get through a bit where he is attempting to impersonate a Elvis impersonator, leading to him going “hon hon hon” with a French accent and struggling to escape the hole he has dug himself into. There is also another fantastic bit in which Gamble goes into explicit detail on how he would perform the seven sins on lasagna with imagery that still has yet to leave my head. 

Ultimately, Ed Gamble: Hot Diggity Dog is a great night of comedy for fans both old and new of Gamble. The show is a fantastic example of an extremely well-written bit of stand-up performed by a talented comedian. I look forward to seeing what Gamble comes up with next!

Ed Gamble: Hot Diggity Dog runs through November 2024. More information on the tour can be found here.