[2013052] Marcel Lucont’s Cabaret Fantastique
Marcel Lucont, Barry Morgan, Trixie & Monkey, Sammy J @ The Garden of Unearthly Delights – Le Cascadeur
11:30pm, Sat 23 Feb 2013
Alexis Dubus’ absolutely wonderful misanthropic Frenchman acts as the front-man for yet another late-night line-up show, and thankfully makes it a less risky proposition by publishing the evening’s guest performers well in advance; thus, I was able to kill two birds with one stone by fronting up this evening… to fling some of my money at Alexis, and to evaluate two acts for future Schedule inclusion/exclusion.
Marcel Lucont, resplendent in his glorious white evening suit, was his usual dismissive, acerbic, and charming self: I’ve heard some of his banter upwards of five times now, but it’s evergreen comedy that still conjures up hearty laughs. His first guest, however, was Barry Morgan… whose shows always seem to make my Shortlist, but never actually get any love. And, after tonight, any guilt associated with those avoidances evaporated; I didn’t find any of his 70s retro schtick to be amusing in the slightest, and the audience interaction pieces (trying to get two random people to operate an arcane and aged card-operated organ) were like pulling teeth. I’m sure thousands would love the Barry Morgan experience, as he always seems to be getting decent audiences… but I’ll not be in any of them in the future. Not my cup of tea at all.
Lucont’s second act was the mysterious Trixie and Monkey, a cabaret act apparently doing a very short run as part of the Bus Stop project. The gypsy-esque Trixie portrayed herself as a fortune teller, and dragged someone from the audience for a “sexual prediction”, which resulted in the audience member having both Trixie and her hairy (bear-y?) chimpish offsider, Monkey, wrapping clamping their thighs around his face and/or wodging their faces into his genitals. Sure, I might have giggled once or twice, but I actually got a little angry at doing so; upon reflection, this felt like a smutty little act that relied on shock value and little else.
Finally, though, came Sammy J… and bloody hell he’s good value. Even though his spot was comparatively brief (oh how I wish I could’ve reallocated the minutes of this show!), he demonstrated his lingual dexterity with two fantastically funny songs – You Held My Hand and Keep It Clean. But that raises a bit of an issue I have with Sammy J: in a line-up show, or a twenty-minute spot, he’s an amazing presence… but whenever I see his full-length shows, they always wind up being a bit too much Sammy J.
But, truth be told, if this show had been just Sammy J and Marcel Lucont, I would’ve been perfectly happy; that it also resulted in the Shortlist being shortened was a bonus.