Nathan Cassidy: Observational


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Material: five-stars  Delivery: five-stars 
Laughs: three-stars.png Room:five-stars 


This is my third Nathan Cassidy Fringe review in a row. Two years ago I observed a fine play, which I loved, while last year I couldn’t mark him highly at all. I was right to do so, a chicken-hut of problems had put him off his stride & his performance levels were, he admitted, low. Life is all about ebbs & flows, so was he due a return to form? He was indeed, being presented with something far beyond my initial 2017 estimations of Nathan; something transcendent, something sorcerous. There appears in him a complete revivification of his artistic spark, & as you watch his magic carpet unwind you sense a certain eerieness, that something special is going down, but you don’t know what. Just little glances, looks, sunny puns & pauses as he casts his net of mystery all around us. The mask in front of all this is his stand-up, as good as the majority at the Fringe, & the way he pushes a turbo-boost button whenever the room flags for even half-a-moment is astonishing!

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The thing about this show (and I think I’ve earned the right to say this as I’ve had done 10 years of shows now) that its seems to be connecting with people. I knew there was something different about it before I performed it, but one of the things I hadn’t considered is from a few people I’ve heard, it’s incredibly uplifting
Read the full interview…

Nathan is like the ultimate anti-braggadocio, his boasts are solid, his pretensions likeable; while his tone is akin to a hammond organ played by a pro. His imagination for humour is like the fox that wanders city streets at night, searching for food where others have left it. Nathan also has the impertinent ability to tell stories in the staccato fashion; each line is told like a joke, but without a punchline – an extraordinary ability that has you hanging on every pause. I also enjoy the way he plants his joke-seeds early, some of whom reappear after the blossoming, like supporting actors in a film.

His tale is based on a recent encounter with a personal trainer – a sublime chance meeting from which alchemy comes Observational, now thoroughly enlivened to a whole new level of audience experience. The overall is a well-woven tapestry that you can see in your mind’s eye sketched out on a piece of paper with boxes & arrows & scribbles. Then comes the spinejangling & euphoric Keyser Söze finale, when all will seem well in the world!

Damian Beeson Bullen

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Observational

The City Cafe

Aug 18-25 (18:45)

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www.nathancassidy.com/al

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