“This show has pace like you’d feel on the inside of a barrel at the edge of a waterfall.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Olaf Falafel is an EdFringe favourite on course to become an EdFringe legend. Hugely admired for his adult stand-up, it’s the material tailored to kids which will win him immortality. We enter to find him on stage and filling the room with energy levels that put Krakatoa to shame. Many a true word is spoken in jest and his opening remark that “fun needs structure” hits the nail on the proverbial. “How does a laser cut?” I’m forever asking my girls. “With focus!” they (are supposed) to reply. Olaf’s genius is his structure and, like William Henry Barlow did with the roof of St Pancras station, he leaves his engineering in plain sight to the wonder and amazement of all. Without structure, there would be no pace and this show has pace like you’d feel on the inside of a barrel racing towards the top of a waterfall.

Daughter 1.0 (8yrs) wrote in her notebook (the one with a picture of William Henry Barlow bungee jumping off the Clifton Suspension bridge on the cover): “I went to Olaf fluffel’s Supa Stupid Show! when I walked in I saw lots of chairs and a big screen. In the Show We Sang Songs went fishing for insults, Played don’t look at the horse and we played can you get your sausage in my funny bag. He also told lots of jokes. I liked the bit were we drew bum-faced snails and when at the end I got a new book I had lots of fun.”

I’m not a super huge fan of the Sponge Bob Square Pants section, but maybe I’m more of a prude when my girls are in the room than when I’m flying solo at a late-night Adults Only Magic Show. The show was such a joy because the laughs were directly shared with Daughter 1.0. Oftentimes, producers put in two levels of comedy with some jokes and references saved for the grownups. By contrast, Olaf’s is a sprawling bungalow of blissful belly laughs delivered fast and furious. Come for the legend, stay for the perfection, get your bum-faced snail coats on and go see this.