Luke Wright: Joy!

Review by David Cox

One of the many joys of the Edinburgh festival is taking a chance of performers early in their career and watching them blossom. Back in 2007 as a 25 year old Luke Wright collated and compered a two day free poetry event including the likes of John Hegley, Murray Lachlan Young, Lemn Sissay and Joe Dunthorne.

Since then we have seen him appear as a guest on Arthur Smith's Passed Up show and embark upon some bold and impressive hour long story telling pieces using only rhyming couplets. Wright now has the confidence to chat with the audience about his life and things that interest him, throwing in the occasional poem.

With the world outside us rapidly going to hell in a handcart I think we all need joy in our lives. Well, Wright had the foresight back in January to see where the wind was blowing and gave his show the name of that much needed commodity.

One of the advantages of seeing the same performer regularly is that you get to know about the state of their life. After seeing last year's show DarkChat had a long and concerned debate about whether he should try and contact his birth mother. We were intrigued to discover if this was resolved.

We now know.

Luke is one of those rare performers who looks in complete control on stage. We, the audience can relax, we are safe hands. He will make us laugh, cry, but most importantly entertain and want to return in the future to see where this journey continues to take us.

A master wordsmith at the top of his game. Go.