Wednesday August 6th 2025
Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes. Photo by Miranda Holms
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Sporting a white shirt, white trousers and a red bandana that read ‘artist’, Joz Norris returned to this years Fringe, with a show surrounding him finally being ready to ‘unveil his lifes work’.
Returning with a new show, ‘You Wait. Time Passes’, Norris displayed to the small Pleasance Dome 10 venue an unusual alternative comedy with a chaotic and disorganised storyline that builds an uncomfortable suspense of him being sure and then unsure if he is ready to reveal to the audience ‘his lifes work’.
Using this unusual theme, Norris builds up the suspense by using a variation of stand-up comedy, comedic skits and comedy music, until finally ending the suspension and revealing the whole show’s purpose.
The comedy within this suspense was centred around phone calls from his wife (that is later revealed isn’t real) alongside an ‘AI girlfriend’, with many jokes also surrounding an empty chair reserved for ‘his wife’, his relationship and how his relationship’s have failed due to being obsessed with this lifes work he was away to display.
The final reveal reinstated my initial opinion of the show, being weirder and more of a disappointment than the comedic effort prior. The show took a turn that I didn’t believe was possible with every moment the show went on Norris’ comedy became erratic and he seemed to be going mad. Without spoiling Norris’ life work, it was a far-fetched character sketch that demanded the crowd to have the same manic nature, being a far-reach at providing a hilarious and quirky ‘what’s going on’ moment to this year’s festival.
Despite this, some moments in the show allowed Norris’ stand-up talent to shine through. Such as, running jokes with the sound and light technician who played a big role in the show, jokes about making mistakes this early into his Fringe run, and making jokes at audience members through his strong crowd work.
Norris displayed strong crowd engagement, speaking to and making jokes at certain audience members. This was well executed, getting the most laughs out of the room.
A unique element of the performance was the use of the technician who was positioned at the back of the crowd, who played as a character in the story, occasionally butting into Norris’ performace. Accompanying this creative twist was an impressive use of sound and lighting, turning the comedy into a theatre production.
Directing various other shows at this year’s festival, such as Lulu Popplewell’s Love Love, the alternative comedian’s show is not as impressive as his previous achievements, winning the Comedians’ Choice Awaed for best show in 2019 and having many successful runs prior to this year’s festival.
Despite the venue being close to a sell-out, this show may not be to everyone’s taste, portraying a weird style of comedy that can only be described as all over the place and erratic.
£13.00 full price, Pleasance Dome – 10 Dome
3/5, unusual style of comedy that may not be up to everyone’s taste.
