Christian Finnegan: My Goodness

Christian Finnegan describes himself as ‘woke but extremely groggy’. This description mutually applies to his stand-up.

Christian Finnegan: My Goodness

My Goodness is a show which literally explores just that: the ‘goodness’ of Christian Finnegan. Attempting to quantify morality – or at least the qualities which supposedly make a person ‘good’, such as generosity and honesty – Finnegan employs the assistance of a screen to visually demonstrate his theory, adopting a computer-game format which sees him assign goodness points to a pixelated self.

He attempts to invite the audience to ponder on their own goodness, on how they would assign these points to themselves, but this attempt at audience involvement partly falls flat. It feels as if Finnegan’s material would work better in an American comedy club, where there is a greater tendency to applaud, and to generally be more generous with showing emotion.

The under-filled audience made it difficult for Finnegan to relax, or really get into the stride of his material, which would’ve worked better on a bigger crowd. This is understandable, but as an audience member you hope the comedian will just happily perform for those who are there.

Finnegan’s material often feels performatively ‘woke’. Attempting to discuss ‘what it means to be a passable human being in 2018’, it’s hard to avoid the topic of the orange-faced, yellow-haired supremely unpassable human in the White House. But, as the comedian notes, Donald Trump ‘is the result of America being f****d’, rather than the cause.

Perhaps it is this that has driven Finnegan, as an American, towards the naval-gazing upon goodness that is his Fringe show. The current state of the US is mentioned, and then Finnegan moves on. The show is focused more on him – his goodness – rather than that of America.

Finnegan’s aim, he says, is for us to judge people in their totality, and thereby presents a hypothetical solution to how this might be done. As a lapsed Catholic and American citizen, Finnegan is no stranger to being dictated standards of morality: he cites the story / myth of George Washington and the Cherry Tree as an example of the complexities of honesty, yet again, this material would probably have worked better on an American audience.

It's an interesting idea, but within the span of the show there are moments which fall flat. Finnegan’s jokes about having a ‘gay face’, while attempting to poke fun at himself, feel a little off: gay isn’t a punchline in 2018. There are promising moments, and the concept of the show, blending ethical philosophy with more seemingly conventional stand-up is interesting, however at times the material needs to be woken up a little more.

Author

Rebecca Took

Rebecca Took Local Reporter

Midlands-based trainee journalist and writer | www.rebeccatook.com

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