The Edinburgh Blog

Jerry Sadowitz is back at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. If he, or his entertaining website, are to be believed it’s the only gig he can be bothered to get. And as pointed out time after time, he’s been driven to performing in an upside down cow. Within one minute of him being on stage the word count is in the hundreds, with a large percentage taken up by expletives. This whole Festival Fringe show proves to be a whirlwind of comedy, magic and borderline psychopathic behaviour. Pretty much true to its title.

The Jerry Sadowitz’s fringe show I saw was mainly comedy based, interspersed with excellent magic (card based) which is projected onto a large screen behind the performer. After the show I heard a group of people saying they wished the show had contained more magic, which I could sympathise with: you felt Jerry had more stunning tricks in his arsenal which he didn’t share with the audience. Though the tricks he did display certainly had the wow factor. He is deservedly one of the best close-up magicians in the business.

Jerry is living proof that comedians in the UK don’t work to any rules of censorship, not even self censorship: many of his jokes should be taboo; they should be plain wrong. But Jerry didn’t seem to care - his jokes delved deeper and deeper into the taboo tank, reaching a crescendo toward the end, to which many audience members thought it too sensitive a subject to dare laugh at. But, for nearly the entire show, his comedy was totally hilarious. Jerry Sadowitz was the first comedian of the Edinburgh Fringe 2021 to genuinely crack me up: to facilitate impulsive laughing on a grand scale. Some of his jokes would make it into many a comedians set, while others, for decency reasons or fear of reprisals, wouldn’t even make the first draft. A wheelchair bound gentleman in the audience didn’t escape Jerry’s tirade and neither did a Swiss person on the front row (think German impressions). Famous figures from the world of celebrity came into the firing line, as did politicians. Yet throughout I found it well constructed, alter-ego based comedy which was there to shock, entertain and stimulate i.e. it did the job.

There did seem a running theme of bitterness from Jerry Sadowitz; for example the success of Derren Brown. Jerry’s mock impressions complete with voice and actions brought some of the evenings loudest laughter. At times Jerry began to rant, as if using this show as a vehicle to express his frustrations with the world at whole and with the microcosm world of comedy. I left wanting to know more about Jerry Sadowitz the person, not the performer; a strange, unfamiliar feeling to leave a Fringe show with.

Toward the end of the show Jerry Sadowitz ‘joked’ that he would be outside the upside down purple cow after the show, to sign autographs on his DVD’s for £20 each. Not strictly true: the DVD’s were £15 each, but true to his word Jerry was stood outside the Udderbelly, pen in hand.

Jerry Sadowitz won’t be to everyone’s taste; infact some people will be quite appalled by his nothing is taboo and everything is prefixed with an expletive brand of humour. His magic remains unquestionable; definitely some of the best card based tricks you will ever see. Jerry Sadowitz made me laugh, like no other comedian has managed this festival, and for that he fully deserves the full five star rating.

Jerry Sadowitz is performing at the E4 UdderBELLY’s Pasture every night until 27th August. Be quick if you want tickets, as many nights have sold out already.

The Edinburgh Blog will shortly be reviewing Playing Burton, Frank Skinner, Stephen K Amos and Bad Film Club.