Daniel Sloss took a nine-month break last year to be with his newborn daughter. If his son’s early years were marked by tours and long absences, on this occasion he made sure to be there “the entire time.”
Parenthood has clearly changed him, though whether that’s for the better, he isn’t sure, and that tension becomes part of the comedy.
Deconstructing parenting
Indeed, this time off has led him to discover a “new talent” for doing “fuck all,” taking up golf under a deal struck with his wife, and being present enough for his kids, farts included, to absorb their antics while she “does the good.”
Breast milk becomes a running fascination, as does the pressure of making his daughter laugh, and not passing on the toxic masculinity baggage he grew up with to his son. Affectionate but never sentimental, you can clearly picture Sloss in his fatherly habitat, even as he pulls apart his parenthood as another system to exploit for absurdity.
Cutting the industry open
The 34-year-old comic stresses how much he loves being with his family. Why go back to work at all? “It’s not like Taskmaster is banging down his door,” he throws out. He admits he’s made a few enemies. Here Sloss sharpens his knives. He doesn’t just take a swing at the cliquey practices of the British comedy circuit; he lands a full-blown uppercut. The room tenses, but the laugh comes. The jokes are precise.
And as a comic whose special X positioned him as an unexpected male ally, taking aim at men’s complicity in abuse, he pushes further, turning his attention to the circuit itself. He brings in references to Russell Brand and Diddy, with his portrayal of Brand landing as the sharpest joke of the bit.
Later he recalls appearing in a Channel 4 documentary about Brand, where he was the only comic willing to go on record. The choice left him both celebrated and attacked, and he relays it with bluntness and gallows humour, pointing to an industry still unwilling to face its complicity.
Swagger and self awareness
But Sloss never pretends to be a hero. He’s quick to cut off any notion of it. He calls himself a “flawed feminist,” stressing that calling out men’s rotten behaviour, which is the bare minimum, is hardly pedestal-worthy. After all, he did marry his ex-girlfriend’s sister.
He throws it out there like someone who knows the audience will judge him and prefers to beat them to the punch.
He then talks about certain clips of his material resurfacing online, reliably fuelling ticket sales. It’s the kind of viral cycle he both mocks and milks, tying it to another pitch-black analogy.
Have you met Daniel Sloss? Of course you have. His whole schtick is making you sit in discomfort until you just can’t help but laugh at the point he’s driving home with a cleverly honed gag.
He toys with you constantly, reminding you that for all his efforts to be decent, his comedy insists on circling back to his own flaws, underlining that he’s no saint.
He then jokes about his fame and Scottishness, noting that a Scot can insult you mercilessly, but if an Englishman does the same, that Scot will rush to your defence. It’s insult as loyalty, contradiction as national identity.
The last turn
The show closes on deliberately regressive-progressive gags about marriage, gender, and what parents tell their kids about their bodies. A dark callback ties it all together, proof that Sloss can still loop the hour back to its sharpest edges while undermining himself in the process.
Overall
Longtime fans of Sloss will rejoice to see his signature dark style pushing the envelope even further. This time, his borderline-inappropriate jokes don’t even spare his family life.
He takes fresh aim at disgraced figures in his industry and, as ever, makes sure to remind you he’s the last person worth glorifying. He delivers it all with the sharpness and unapologetic edge that shot him to fame.
For a work in progress it felt strikingly polished. Sloss has already hinted on social media that much of this material will never be heard again, which makes it all the more tempting to return and see what survives the cut.
Daniel Sloss: Work in Progress
Summary
For a work in progress, the hour feels strikingly assured. Sloss turns his scalpel on abusers and his own industry, and doesn’t flinch from testing limits with material drawn from family life, all while undercutting himself with sharp self-awareness.
I waited one whole hour to hear one joke or funny part but there was none. Baby fart…is just ordinary thing, painfully described in detail; breast milk…are we tanagers?! Laughing about the death of his sister, or complaining about people getting older and fat, with no hint of humor?!
I left about an hour into the Bitter show in Cluj Napoca on February 19th 2026 terribly disappointed and wandering why the shows are sold out, it might be something wrong with me!