At one stage in A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others, Phil Green acknowledges that he could spend an hour talking about the shocking rates of male suicide. However, he tells his Greater Manchester Fringe audience he has had another, tonally different, idea on how to fill the show. The good news: it is a great idea.
Complete with a genuinely funny PowerPoint-style presentation, Green outlines his plan on how to save middle-aged men from themselves.
It is something he has experience of. Partly because of his own breakdown (although he is fine now by the way – totally fine, actually) and partly because he’s had to help a few of his mates who’ve ended up in need themselves.
There’s a really endearing opening section about luring these troubled men away from danger with trails of pork scratchings, comforting them with old Top Gear episodes and then rehabilitating them without the need of unnecessary exercise lycra and skydives.
What follows is the comedian explaining his manifesto in detail.
It is a comedic monologue that explains why people with a Duke of Edinburgh award should not be trusted, that asks why Baby Boomers has problems saying goodbye and that fully takes down weekend cooking show presenters.
Green has a confident presence, despite this being a work in progress, and a warm and likeable style.
There are some laugh out loud moments (it is a surprise that anyone could speak at such length on scouting) and the general tone is sincere.
It is lifted with some clever production elements: the aforementioned slideshow, some comic diagrams and an amusing WhatsApp chat video.
Not everything lands, though. One particular part about his dog having a thing for women at certain times of the month feels a bit off. Even though the joke is firmly on the performer.
There was potentially some irony to be had in this treatise on the plight of the anti-woke middle-aged man being hosted above a pub containing a fair few.
Overall, however, this is a life-affirming show with some clever observations on an important topic.
Phil Green: A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others was a one-night show as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe with tickets available at https://greatermanchesterfringe.co.uk/events/
Reviewer: Peter Ruddick
Reviewed: 5th July 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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