Presented by Harvey Cobb

Review by Hunter King

Big Belly at Underbelly, Cowgate

Social awkwardness can be a blessing or a curse especially at the Edinburgh Fringe, aka the place where social norms go to die. Harvey Cobb is the epitome of ignoring social norms in favour of creating a show, or as he would insist, a piece of art, that is beyond what people would accept socially in his show Harvey Cobb: Pink Boots and an Alcoholic Sock Puppet. 

Whether intentional or not, Cobb knows how to create an awkwardness in the air that leaves the audience wondering when they should be laughing. His moments of successful tricks and genuine surprise are all the more fulfilling because they are surrounded by a veil of strangeness that makes the show hard to watch in moments, but in a way that is immensely entertaining. 

Some jokes land easier than others, with shining moments being the “smelly socks song” which not only gets the audience involved, but proves that the show has structure, despite most of the show feeling entirely unstructured. Cobb is an impressive performer, having some circus tricks up his sleeve that are genuinely 100% his own. With this said, he also had many moments that felt odd, as if they were unplanned (which they might have been) including dropping his juggling multiple times, knocking things over, and forgetting what he was doing in moments.

Additionally, he would have moments that didn’t quite make sense. Why was the sock puppet an alcoholic? Was he even an alcoholic? What is the point of the boots? Perhaps meant to be absurdism, some of the show felt as if it was just unfinished. With that said, the ridiculousness of it all was very entertaining. Harvey Cobb is incredibly hard to read, but if you are the type of person that likes addressing strangeness head on and running with it, this show may be worth your time (and perhaps one of your socks).

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