Showtime

Andrew Maxwell treats Brexit not as a clash of civilizations, but as an annoying dispute between neighbors across a narrow strip of water. Having moved from North London to Leave-voting Kent, he approaches British politics with the weary amusement of a man whose neighbors would happily crater their own economy for the return of blue passports, yet will still cheerfully take in his mail.

Filmed during the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Assembly George Square Theatre, the 54-minute set marked his twenty-second August in the Scottish capital. At that point, Maxwell was balancing highbrow appearances on BBC Radio 4 topical panel shows with voiceover work on MTV’s trash-TV staple Ex on the Beach.

The stage setup is stripped down to a stool, a microphone, and a pint glass. He spends time on his domestic contradictions, discussing what it is like to be an Irish Christian married to a prosecco-drinking Muslim in a conservative corner of Kent. That rural setting also supplies his bit about a local vicar, a former Special Branch officer who awkwardly shoehorns weekly news headlines into Sunday sermons. When the set shifts to darker ground, including the UK terror attacks from earlier that year, he drops the clowning just enough to remain respectful without derailing the comedy.