10 Hidden Gems From Edinburgh Festival 2019

10. Tom Toal - Mediocre Boy

Gentle storyteller Tom Toal complains in his show this year that he’s been suffering from writer’s block. Don’t be fooled: this is a show brimming over with ideas and jokes.

One of the brains behind the After All This Time, Always Podcast, Toal is a warm and inclusive performer with an easy charm.

His show this year is inspired by the Sarah Hagi quote, “Lord grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man.” From there, Toal spirals off into all sorts of observations and anecdotes both about his own lack of confidence and the sometimes underserved confidence he observes in those around him.

Mediocre Boy is a show at its most engaging when it broaches the subject of parenthood. Toal obviously delights in his daughter and his role as a father. At the same time however, he’s anxious not to screw her up, to politely paraphrase Philip Larkin, another of the show’s references.