Geraldine Quinn – Hex and the City [FringeTIX]
Geraldine Quinn @ The Tuxedo Cat
9:15pm, Sat 28 Feb 2009
Geraldine Quinn has yet to fail me. After a stunning debut in 2007, and a stunning more-of-the-same followup in 2008, she’s attempted to create a show with more depth by introducing a plot device… the problem is, she doesn’t need to do this (her “normal” act is strong enough by itself), and the storyline only introduces opportunities for stagnant pauses, creating a more stilted performance.
By virtue of the fact that she’s in her thirties, single, childless, and a bloodnut, Geraldine is being hunted down by an angry mob; much of the “story” element of the show is devoted to expounding this hunt, mainly via one-sided mobile phone calls which are stilted at best, mood-killing at worst. Many of her songs use a pre-recorded backing, leading to some amusing timing problems and admonishment for the sound tech.
Whilst all songs are up to the usual high standards, when she ignores the pre-record and picks up her guitar things get taken up a notch; this is the Quinner I remember, all sweetness and snarls and biting humour, fully deserving of her preferred “Captain Rock” moniker. And yet, possibly the best song on the night was the new “Young People” (“…are only useful for porn mags and fashion mistakes”) track, sung with gorgeous gusto and range over a backing track.
At least the storyline allowed for the “cameo” appearance of Jesus towards the end of the show – leading to the tutu-clad Quinn successfully uttering the jovial “fuck off, Jesus” line that we’ve all wished we could justify in conversation.
It’s still a decent show, and I love Gerry to death – but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by this one. But that’s probably only because her previous shows have been so exceptionally wall-to-wall good that the few flat spots were very noticeable; any other comic would probably kill to have material this good. It’s just a pity that I left this show thinking I was guinea-pigging for her prior to the inevitably profitable Comedy Festival run.