Stand-ups are a notoriously self-indulgent bunch but this year's Edinburgh crop takes the navelgazing biscuit with a veritable flood of shows about parents, divorce and being adopted. John Gordillo's Divide & Conga is special because, while the inspiration is his father, the satirist makes the personal political, deftly dissecting world affairs alongside paternal matters.
Gordillo swiftly sets out his stall, explaining that his Spanish dad grew up under Franco's fascism, so has strong views about extremism. He links this thread to the rise of Muslim fundamentalism but before the bespectacled, rangy comedian gets bogged down in polemic, he lobs in some great gags and colourful anecdotes, shrewdly sugaring the pill.
His tale of a family visit to the circus ("the plague with juggling") oozes one-liners, as does his riff skewering free range chickens. As for Al Qaeda, let them run London for six months, he says, and they will hate it so much they will leave.
All of this builds to a serious gear-change as he argues convincingly that bad parenting may be at the root of many global ills.
It will come as no surprise to comedy buffs to discover that Gordillo has directed various Reg Hunter shows. Like Hunter, Gordillo is bursting to say something weighty. Divide & Conga feels like self-therapy at times but it certainly packs a passionate, powerful punch. A show so good one can almost forgive the dreadful title.
Until 25 August (0131 226 0000, www.edfringe.com).
John Gordillo: Divide And Conga
Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe
