August 13, 2026 at Monkey Barrel 4
Geoffrey Asmus is an American with an impressive joke writing sensibility, one that’s frequently mentioned by fellow comedians on podcasts, and I was really curious to see him in action.
He (or his stage persona) has a shambling physicality that belies this sharpness, and he often delivers punchlines with a snort, sometimes half-lowering his eyelids if a line needs an extra sales push.
He quicky sounds out the audience and is mock horrified that no one in the room has seen him perform before. ‘I’m only in a foreign country chasing my dreams, don’t worry!’ he bellows, with a delivery that reminds me of Canadian comedian Bobbie Mair.
He frequently lambasts the audience, not for failing to get his jokes, but for refusing to ever give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s a problem with all European audiences, he tells us – they’ll laugh uproariously for ten minutes and then sit in dead silence for a joke they don’t like. ‘You got no momentum!’ he yells again, but with a smile, so we know he’s amused, if not joking.
One of his devices is to pick a guy on the front row, and ask him leading questions, loudly complaining when they don’t lead directly into the bits he wants to do next. It’s funny, and gives him a chance to demonstrate to us that his mock anger really is just a ruse.
And the jokes are good, even if they’re almost certainly not for everyone. He seems to begin by delicately walking a line between trying to offend those on the right or the left of the political spectrum, before we inevitably figure out that while he may have the manner of a more right wing entertainer, he doesn’t share their views. Or at least not their worst ones. He might hit some of the same notes as an edgelord gagsmith: peadophilia, a dodgily-performed foreign accent, and then peadophilia again, but even when dealing with a topic that’s been considered hack on these isles for years, he’s usually given it more thought than most.
When an audience member responds to some gentle crowdwork with a confusing shout of, ‘God Save the King,’ we get to see how nimble Asmus is on his toes. Later, he uses the distraction of a man crossing the stage to reach the bar to stretch his favourite one-liner to last around five minutes. (He claims seven, and maybe he’s right.)
But just when you think you’ve got the measure of him and his territory, Asmus pulls out a (very good) joke about the Gettysburg Address or a fabulous bit about Thomas Jefferson being an idiot. By the end of this show everyones heard some undeniably impressive jokes, as well as material they maybe wouldn’t expose themselves to by choice, and judging by how delighted the audience was when exiting, any offence was temporary.
Geoffrey Asmus: Patriautism is most days at Monkey Barrel 4 at 19.50
Sarah Stringer