Adam Hess, Edinburgh Fringe review: Twitter one-liner king makes an impressive debut

Puns, zingers and weird childhood memories make for a charming show

Adam Hess, who already has a large following on Twitter, makes his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe with his show 'Salmon' (Edward Moore)

Adam Hess’ Salmon, is one of the Fringe’s “Pay What You Want” shows. You don’t have to buy a ticket in advance – though the queues to get in are long so you might choose to in this final week – and you can throw whatever cash you think it’s worth into a bucket on the way out.

Hess ought to be raking it in – for good quality gags per minute, there is no better comedian on the Fringe.

This is Hess’ debut at the Fringe though he is a familiar face on the alternative circuit and has built up a considerable following online (46.8k on Twitter) for his daft one-liners. There are zillions of these in the show – “Did you know Kinder Surprise is German for ‘unwanted pregnancy’” – but Hess is more than a pun-slinger.

He has clearly thought about the shape of his show – using the loose concept of introducing himself to his new audiences as the structure off which to hang a hundred one-liners and tiny tales. So there are weird childhood recollections, facts about himself (“I don’t believe in triplets”, “I once spread a rumour all my teeth were molars” and so on) and observations on Christmas presents, Amazon, dating and how to get away with murder.

He breaks it up with a little audience participation though he barely pauses for breath long enough to let anyone else speak. Some may find his hyperactive, puppyish, million-miles-a-minute delivery too much, I found it charming. He will have won over many new fans this month – and rightly so.

Heroes @The Hive, to 31 August (www.edfringe.com)