BRUCE DESSAU, LONDON EVENING STANDARD - Monday, August 12th, 2013
Cult Canadian comedian Baconface, who is making his long-awaited Fringe debut, has at least two routines here that are shameless Stewart Lee rip-offs.
One reworks his classic Jehovah’s Witness monologue, simply swapping a reference to The Jesus and Mary Chain for an obscure north American band in a feeble attempt to hide its origins.
Elsewhere, when not explaining how to survive a grizzly bear attack — really handy on Princes Street — Baconface comes across as a jaded joker, claiming to have invented comedic styles that others such as Louis CK have made popular. His Rich Hall-like bark sounds desperate and his catchphrase, “It’s all Bacon!”, is hardly going to become the next “Yeah, but no, but yeah.”
Casual punters lured in by the whiff of pork may be more bemused than amused by the bad gags and British Columbia references.
The only way Baconface will be famous is if Stewart Lee sues him for plagiarism, but somehow I cannot see them standing opposite each other in court.