August 8, 2025 
The Wee Review
Chinese-born comic Alvin Liu starts off strong with a song about a sandwich sung in a crooning Elvis-style before using his culinary number to branch off into humorous stories about growing up in a household where food is the answer to anything, even ADHD.Whilst this then leads to standard culture-clash comedy when Liu arrives in the UK, the stand-out joke being his disbelief at the typical British meal deal sandwich, he is stronger when dealing with more serious topics, such as his arrest in China whilst performing stand-up there.This allows him to showcase one of his strengths as a performer, namely making this heavy subject matter palatable for a revved-up afternoon audience expecting pure laughs. Specifically Liu effectively makes his breaking of draconian laws affecting stand-up comedy into a darkly comic critique of his joke telling ability, casting his interrogator in the unlikely role of Fringe reviewer. Liu also uses a similar technique to defang an anecdote about a racist comment made when he first arrives in the UK, deftly subverting expectations whilst linking the punchline to his earlier childhood material.However, it’s the crowd control where Liu excels the most. Audience interaction is usually the hardest thing to get right for a Fringe comedian – with unlucky ones having to struggle against unwilling or inappropriate punters. In contrast, Liu is able to turn any potentially tricky encounter into an opportunity to mine the comedic potential of the situation. This includes pitting two overly enthusiastic applauders together in a ‘clap-off’ contest that threatens to dominate the rest of the show.Liu, however, manages to keep things on track to his climax, where he gets two audience members to join him in improving the aforementioned meal deal sandwich. Whilst the results are messy, it’s certainly a unique approach that, along with Liu’s overall stage presence, marks him out amongst the comedic output at the Fringe.‘Love Letter to a Sandwich’ may be an acquired taste (in more ways than one!), but Liu’s sheer enthusiasm and creativity is infectious – his impromptu culinary and audience skills impress the most. Click Here For Review