The Caves
Aug 2-12th to 14-27th (11:20)

Material:  Delivery:   Laughs: 

I’ve always loved Shelley’s sonnet, Ozymandias, written in competition with Keats in the unofficial London literary salon ran by Leigh Hunt. And so does Jacob Hatton. Jacob also loves comedy, & doing comedy, he really is quite a natural performer. What Ozymandias has to do with his comedy I quite never worked out, but I hardly cared as I was too busy being swept along by Hatton’s funniness like going on one of those proper smart waterpark flumes in Greece.

The main crux of the show is Hatton’s youthful obsession with becoming the Pope, which he clearly has never quite got rid of, for the neurosi surrounding such childhood dreams are now manifesting in the young fellow’s performance art. I think Hatton would have made a brilliant drama teacher; he’s just so on the ball & scatty at the same time, it’s buzzing to watch.

Ozymandias is based on our endless desire to be GREAT, to want people to know us and know about us. It explores what that means, why we want it and why ultimately, it’s a profoundly useless thing to really want from life.
Read the full interview…

There is also a gameshow-host lurking somewhere in the psyche of Mr Hatton, & one is immediately warmed by his incessantly silly patter & his quality audience interaction/participation. I mean, getting an entire sobriety-swarming room harmoniously Gregorian chanting before noon is quite a feat. Thus, at the end of the day, or rather the start of, Ozymandias is a wee, endorphin-milking titterfest that will set you up for a grand day at the Fringe, no end.

Damo