Even in the well-heeled cloisters of Magdalen College School, the Brexit aftershock hung in the air. As three comedians took to the stage to deliver an enjoyable and often spectacularly relevant series of standup performances, rain pattered on the roof of the marquee.
Joel Dommett compéred - not a name familiar to me, he is better known to those youngsters for such shows as Made In Chelsea and Skins. Funny, camp and risqué, he made several brief appearances which he never outstayed.
Shappi Korshandi was hugely likeable, with some entertaining anecdotes often based on her background as the daughter of an Iranian political émigré, and life as a single mother of two. Given her father's status as enemy to the Iranian Revolution, she rued her own relatively poor number of terrible tweets, portraying him as a man only happy when his daughter received the wrath of HUNDREDS of thousands. Mixing this with her status as an unremarkable and very British middle-class person created a fascinating portrait of life in our mad century - urgent, fearless and timely. With laughs.
Marcus Brigstocke was replaced last minute by Mark Steel (who will surely be delighted to hear is now my favourite comic performer). Less a standup kind of guy than a performer who delivers imaginative monologues, his set was relaxed, yet subversive and unflinchingly political. What is so brilliant about him is that he entirely avoids hectoring, and is downright enjoyable for his effortless and myriad deployment of personalities and characters over mere accent impressions. Ghanaians, Glaswegians, South Londoners in their subtly different incarnations, and the Cotswold accent ('yar well of course when we bought this it was just a barn'), all make an appearance under his expert management. I cannot recommend him highly enough - see him or get his recorded material on iTunes.
It is a real testament to this progressive and privileged school that they have put on a festival with such a bold programme, with other great figures such as Sam Mendes and John Simpson appearing until Saturday.
The grounds are beautiful, the organisers efficient and friendly, and facilities good. If only the same could be said of our country in the broader sense!