[2009023] Doppleganger [FringeTIX]
Bart Freebairn @ The Tuxedo Cat
10:30pm, Sat 28 Feb 2009
Bart’s a friendly enough guy. He pops onstage with little fanfare in front of maybe twenty punters – many of whom he’s successfully schmoozed out on the Rooftop Bar – and seems honest. Trustworthy. Not scary. You know, a comfortable comic.
But Bart has one big problem – he acts and sounds like a Complete Twat I work with. Which means that he’s probably stolen the style from someone else, because The Twat doesn’t have an original bone in his body.
Oh wait – now I remember. It’s the style of Pauly Shore. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing – lord knows I pissed myself laughing at Shore’s antics in Encino Man. In 1992. But Bart’s little punctuation mannerisms – the vocal uptick, the short dainty poses – get a bit wearing after awhile, and the entire show seems to be based on his backpacking experiences, but at least the gentle laughs keep coming.
Mind you, I was pretty pissed at this stage of the evening, so I may be giving him way too much credit. I remember patting him on the back at the Bar afterwards, congratulating him on a great show, so something must have cheered me somewhat; in the cold light of day, I’m arsed if I can remember what it was. But that irritating style is repeating on me the morning after.