The Comedy Club BlogJohn Ryan - Those Young Minds
John Ryan – Long a thoroughly likable and energetic presence on the stand-up-circuit – has more or less become a comedy councellor.
The Irish-descended East Ender is still doing the rounds with 2007’s Hurt Until It Laughs, a ‘warts-and-all performance’ that tried to encourage men to lose their hang-ups when it comes to visiting the doc and discussing medical issues.
Now he does another health-related show, Those Young Minds, which he performs as part of the Camden Fringe Festival.
Those Young Minds comes with worthy-sounding baggage; it’s commissioned by the Young Minds children’s mental health and well-being charity – it’s theme is fatherhood and its aims to ‘break down barriers’ but its likely to be fun: Ryan’s genial appeal stems from his ability to connect with the common man, his dad anecdotes come from raising his own three children, and stories he heard during investigations on ‘dad’ forums and in the pub. Most importantly, Young Minds has played no part in censoring the show’s comedy and language content- though we’d be surprised if this deviated from Ryan’s family-friendly cosiness.
This after all, is a man who, to raise money for people with Aids and HIV, persuaded Bargain Hunt’s David Dickinson to join him skipping around Edinburgh. If this doesn’t ooze with cheerful spirit, we’ll eat our yo-yos.
Sharon Lougher – Metro
Watch John Ryan Comedy Clips on www.comedycorporate.com