A review of Tim Vine: Breeeep!, Fringe 2022

Tim Vine will be a candidate for Dave’s Joke of the Fringe.

It’s quality, not just quantity here, given there’s easily a joke a minute in the hour-long Breeeep! that’s impressive.

There’s also a surprising amount of singing.

As I filed out of the comfort of the audience capacity calculated and maximised Pleasance One, the couple in front of me re-told the jokes we’d all just heard. “My other favourite one was…” the husband said.

That’s a good sign, right? When you enjoy a gig so much, you have to start talking about it.

I suspect, in fact, that Vine’s goal was to create as much of a meme of a show as possible. People will recommend the act, swap the jokes and sing the songs.

So, tip; book your tickets now, if there are any left. Breeeep! will be selling out each night. I’m sure, and already today, when I nipped out for breakfast, I’ve talked to someone who tried to get in but couldn’t get a ticket.

It’s a 12+ rated show, and I think that’s fair. I don’t recall any language (not that I’d notice), cringe or even politics. Given the whirlwind of humour that a Tim Vine encounter is, I may be forgetting some, but certainly, nothing made me take note. Ergo, not only is this teen-safe, Breeeeep! might also be an oasis from the current bleak world political situation.

If I have forgotten any political jokes, then I’m not alone. There were a few times when Vine had to reposition and recover when, I think, he wasn’t entirely sure what came next. There was checking of notes, too but even that turned into a joke, and if you told me the clipboard was entirely prop I wouldn’t be surprised.

What is Breeeeep?

Breeeeeeep is an earworm, a sound you hear once and find yourself repeating.

At least, that’s my theory and circumstantial evidence for my theory that Vine designed the act to encourage word-of-mouth recommendations. It’s no bad thing.

I think ‘Breeeeep’ is mentioned once and in the context of asking why the show was named Breeeeep. He knows what he’s doing.

The rest of the act is 98% joke, with about 2% of the time spent loosely blending the spitfire of one-liners into something of a narrative. Working the audience falls into both categories, it’s mainly joking around, but there’s also some foreshadowing and framing.

Breeeeep! is one clever man dominating the stage with hit after hit of jokes you’ll not have heard before, but will soon hear again.

My visit to see Tim Vine on Black Wednesday was also my first visit to Pleasance One. It was packed and still comfortable. It makes a difference, I’ve seen Tim before in smaller venues, when he was less well known but last night’s gig was the most comfortable and it allowed me to lean back (or forward to applaud) and laugh without worrying about nutting someone in the face.

Overall

Breeeeep! will be one of the big comedy hits of the Fringe, worth making an effort to grab tickets for and confronting the crowds of the Pleasance.

I wonder what happened to the mutant hat thing in the posters.