Gordon Southern/Rhod Gilbert/Stephen K Amos @ The Arts Theatre
9:00pm, Fri 20 Feb 2004
Score: 9
Short Review: Surprisingly refreshing!
Ummm… I was actually supposed to go to the Scared Weird Little Guys 30 Minute Variety Hour in this time-slot – I bought the ticket – but a wrong turn (and an inattentive ticket collector) saw me well engrossed in this show before I knew anything was amiss. Still, it’s a bloody good thing this mistake was made; this was one of the best Fringe comedy performances I’ve ever seen.
Gordon Southern opened (and MCed) the evening, and quickly got the gut-laughs rolling. His banter with the audience was superb, with quick-witted reponses to crowd murmers – “ah, Canadians – the Americans it’s OK to like.” His phone-sex cold calling bit was sublime, his description of tantric sex (“sober, in daylight”) perfect, and his advice for PlayStation widows was a great closer.
Welshman Rhod Gilbert was next. Think of Steven Wright with a southern English accent… and funnier. Gilbert delivered one of the driest, most surreal sets I’ve ever had the fortune to sit through – his board games recollections were bizarre for all the right reasons. Words really fail me with this guy, and the show would be worth seeing for him alone…
…but then Stephen K Amos emerged. With faux rasta tones he lulled the audience with some cheap laughs, then picked his poor unfortunate accomplice in the audience for the evening: 17-year-old toolmaker, Shane. Amos mercilessly decimated Shane’s entire life, drawing tears of laughter from the audience (Shane included) in doing so. Sounds vicious, but I swear it wasn’t so – just deliriously funny. His rubber-faced antics only enhanced the act.
So – it was a complete mistake I saw this show, but I’m not sorry at all. A thoroughly wonderful event.