By Danny Wallace
ComedyNet
1996
The Scotsman, eh? Who is he, anyway? Does he just wander round Edinburgh all day watching stuff, going "oh, aye, that's goood..."? That, casually slurred by Yorkshire comic Mark Hurst, a guest of international media whore Greg Proops, was just the beginning of a delightfully vitriolic ad-libbed comedy attack on the world of the Fringe reviewer. Such needless sarcasm and acerbic wit makes a disturbingly regular appearance on Proops' daily chat show, and, though his guests may constantly alter, the format remains spookily similar time after time.
Proops is a professional host whose genial demeanour, in the best tradition of professional hosts, remains never more than superficial throughout. His stage presence, however, grows by the minute, and when things begin to sour he falls back on trusty stock Edinburgh-related material to get the audience breathing once more. And he does it so well. Like an upmarket version of Mervyn Stutter's Pick Of The Fringe, Greg Proops' Chatshow grants those unwilling to trawl through hefty day-by-day reviews supplements a chance to experience parts of the Fringe it's simply not possible to experience with just a handful of dog-eared fliers. And, though he can be catty to the point of annoyance, it can be hard not to like him for it.
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