Daniel Kitson @ Nova 2
9:45pm, Tue 9 Mar 2004
Score: 9
Short Review: A kindred spirit
Kitson comes onstage with no fanfare. Whatsoever. The crowd hasn’t been worked into a frenzy, so the opening is a bit flat. With delusions of melancholy, he improvises himself into a corner – behind the side screens, anyway. And then he reappears, utters the immortal words “this room’s shit, and you’re a bunch of cunts” – and he means it. And he’s won a friend for life in me.
Let it not be said that Kitson doesn’t have a dislike of popular society. His aim of whittling down his audience to a core group of twelve would be a lot easier, however, if he weren’t so bloody funny. Recounting a tale of his worst-ever radio interview, he described his comedy as “a fat dog raping a cake” – and he’s right. Picture that, and you’ve got Daniel Kitson.
Hell, anyone who takes the piss out of The Advertiser’s reviews is fine by me. Kitson’s abrasive take on modern life is something that’s been sorely missed since the sad loss of Bill Hicks; a style that many comedians have tried to emulate, but failed to succeed. Kitson makes this style his own, and does it bloody well.
“Clumsy, but valid”: oh yes. “All filler, and not an ounce of killer”? I think not.