Ross Daniels – The Transposed Man
Ross Daniels @ CitySoul
9:00pm, Wed 2 Mar 2011
There’s a few moments of confusion at the start of The Transposed Man – Swampy, old and bedraggled, staggers and blusters his way across the stage, begging for change from a couple of audience members in the front row. Heads are turned, and there are some confused looks… until the house lights drop and we realise that Swampy is the first of Ross Daniels’ character studies.
Suffering from Uncontrollable Personality Syndrome, Daniels skips between characters pretty regularly – but spends enough time with each to get develop them up, making them fertile grounds for humour. Swampy is great, and Daniels’ impression of Shane Bourne tackling Shakespeare was brilliant… but, unfortunately, there were a few flat points. The young child of the internet age, Zac (the little shit), doesn’t really work (feeling too much like a mature commentary on youthful trends), and the Batman bits… well, they never got me on-side at all.
But despite the fact that The Transposed Man is little more than an hour of character sketch comedy, Daniels at least embellishes it with a sense of community by linking all the characters together, however unlikely that may seem (Swampy’s son turns out to be an excellent middle ground). And Daniels puts in some quality performances, demonstrating great range and conviction. It’s just that the polish of the performance was diminished somewhat by those bits that rubbed me the wrong way.