Frank Lavender: Be Funny ★★★★

Frank Lavender is the yin to Myra DuBois’ yang. In the extended MyraVerse he is The Joker to her Batman – if the Joker were an old school Northern working man’s club comic and Batman had legs to die for.

While the Siren of South Yorkshire rides the showbiz wave effortlessly adapting to the latest trend (be it Wellness or Dying), Frank Lavender is more of a Galapagos Giant Tortoise, floundering to keep up with the tide and being buffeted by the waves..

Both are the character-comedy creations of the brilliant Gareth Joyner. Writing “character-comedy creations” feels as if it doesn’t do justice to quite how many layers he has invested in both. Lavender feels like the product of Joyner’s hawklike observation of that kind of comedian in his (genuine) previous occupation as a glass collector in a Rotherham working men’s club. You can practically smell the stale ale in Frank’s DNA.

At this point in his career, Frank, the self-titled “last straight man in showbiz” finds himself out of date and out of touch. It would be simple for the character to be a parody of one of those awful, cancel-claiming comics who wash up on the insalubrious shores of GB News yanging on about how wokeness ruined their careers.

But the deliciousness of Lavender as a character, and what drives the humour, is that Frank is painfully aware that times have changed. It transpires there was a gig where Lavender told a joke which was deemed “wildly homophobic” and according to his lovely lady wife Rose Lavender – yes, in a controversial act of disloyalty to her sister Myra DuBois, Rose is present for Be Funny – he was roundly booed. By every member of the audience. Not getting work, Frank has taken a course to acquire an awareness of what is acceptable in modern comedy. His efforts to move with the times feel at the same time heroic but not entirely convincing, despite no want of trying.

There is a beautiful bittersweet foundation and complexity to Frank Lavender. You can’t help but like him even though he’s a bit rubbish. “There’s a lovely buzz in the air. I should get that speaker fixed” is typical fare that you’ll find yourself laughing at while still groaning.

Frank’s unstoppable desire to entertain is there from the moment you arrive at the venue with Frank greeting audience members from the stage. “The show’s not started yet. It isn’t just me telling people where to sit”, he reassures.

The layers of the character – between the old Frank who delivered humour that was “a bit blue” and the newly “reformed” Frank – vie with each other constantly with glimpses of resentment occasionally reaching the surface. That Frank is constantly monitoring his own material while he delivers it, offers some fine humour as well as a subtle critique on what might and might not be funny. After informing the audience “I don’t promise one thing and deliver another… I’m not Keir Starmer” he swiftly checks with The Recs reviewer that we are not writing for the Guardian lest he has upset us.

In an irony, not lost on his creator, playing a character who is struggling to find his audience has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy at this Fringe so far with not the best ticket sales for Frank. Have to say people are missing out on this cleverly-crafted, keenly-observed character comedy. With Frank Lavender’s stated offer of 60 laughs in 60 minutes well exceeded into triple figures at yesterday’s performance, The Recs has one piece of advice for Edinburgh audiences: Be Funny, Be There!