There are reasons to take up standup, and then there’s Daran “Jonno” Johnson launching this new career aged 38 as a form of exposure therapy for anxiety. At least we have an explanation for why this prodigiously funny and talented man hasn’t gone solo before. As one-third of the sketch-group-of-their-generation, Sheeps, and now head writer on the hit Saturday Night Live UK, he doesn’t lack credentials for a tilt at standup.
And, while Here Comes Mr Funny has its teething problems, it’s a bright start to Jonno’s singular life, and gave me some of my biggest laughs of this fringe. What’s surprising about it, and arguably part of what works least well, is that Jonno – a man hitherto hidden behind tiers of irony in his performing career – reveals so much of himself. He admits to being nervous. He talks about envying watching his peers on TV, half expecting to see himself appear on screen and join them.
