JOHN MOLONEY in Only Moloney
An evening of solid, well-crafted but somehow old-fashioned jokes that had me smiling occasionally, but almost never laughing. Some of his material, such as jokes about the Royal Family, had the audience in fits, but given the originality and calibre of some of the shows I've seen at the festival this year and previously, I'm afraid that this very trad take on comedy just didn't do it for me. Perhaps 10 years ago, in a smoky pub, some of Moloney's humour might have cut it, but not today. And John, if your reading this? Drop the jokes about transgenderism - there's a line between cheekily crass and just plain offensive, and you crossed it at that point of your show...
Two and a half wry smiles out of five.
CHARLIE PICKERING in Thirteen Ducks
I've been pretty hard on local lad Pickering in the past, so I'm pleased to say that this show was definitely a cut above what I've seen him do in recent years. It's a tighter, sharper show, with a range of stories that fly off at tangents and circle round for a while before coming home to roost. While his material seemed at times familiar, I think that's more because I've been regularly exposed to his schtick and style rather than because he's regurgitating old jokes. Material about foreign dictators, visiting South Africa, his inability to remember names (to which I can so relate) and banal advertising is interspersed among a linking narrative about an experience Pickering had in New Zealand as a teenager. A solid, well-structured show from a likeable local performer.
Three happy chuckles out of five.
No comments:
Post a Comment