Anna Burnside reviews a set by ‘an engaging performer with an infectious smile and a strong gag rate’.
When Jamie Wolf’s twin sister was 11, her biggest ambition was to be a secretary. She and Wolf would sit in their respective bedrooms: he hammering the controller of his shoot-em-up game, she answering the phone in a snippy tone and typing passive aggressive letters to imaginary clients on behalf of a made-up boss.
Fast forward a decade or so. Her brother has inadvertently got himself admitted to a New York hospital’s psych ward. This is not an easy place to leave. But they are no match for a twin with a passion for administrative aggression on a mission to free her brother who just wanted some sleeping pills. Soon he is free.
Wolf not only wrings all the considerable comedic liquid out of this episode, he weaves it into a bigger tale of the mouth-drying cost of healthcare in the US. A few days after he gets out, the bill for his “treatment” arrives. It’s around $20,000, dwarfed by his earlier appendicectomy, which cost $63,000.
When these figures are mentioned, he pulls his show merch out of his pockets. Welcome to America, where comedians sell stickers to pay for healthcare.
Wolf is an engaging performer with an infectious smile and a strong gag rate. If his sister had not been around to help, he would have charmed his way out of the psych ward. Nae bother.
Jamie Wolf: Psycho performs at Gilded Balloon Teviot (Wee Room) at 21:40 (60 min) until 30 August 2026 (not 17th). For further details, go to the production website.
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