Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
Aug 10-13, 15-27 (21:00)
Curios Regio Eius Religio
Alexander Bennet’s new hour of stand up starts off with some fairly standard ‘Londoner does the Fringe’ material. ‘Estate Agents are awful people & trying to find a liveable home in London is a nightmare’. So far, so usual. The difference with Alexanders take on this however revolves around the presence of a trapdoor in the kitchen, the potential perils of living with such a thing in ones life, and how others new to the environment might interpret the presence of such an ominous contraption in an environment which is supposed to feel like ones ‘home’.
It’s very much to the performers credit that it wasn’t until I re-read my notes from the show, that the significance of this to the rest of the show stood out like a gaping hole in the middle of a floor.
You see Alexander Bennet really doesn’t like himself, indeed a solid 30 minutes of the performance are dedicated to a Top of the Pops style run-down of all of the aspects of his character, body, past and future, which fill him with revulsion. Now, don’t go thinking that he has succumbed to The Barbie Movie in a manner which right wing commentators have been warning of for the last 4 weeks solid, it’s quite possible that this is all just some ‘schtick’ to find a winning formula for 5 stars at the Fringe from a misandry filled Guardian reviewer.
If this feels confusing, it’s entirely to Alexanders credit that the performance itself neither confuses, nor alienates any of the men in the room. In this hour of increasingly dark jokes, often at his own expense, Bennett manages something I’ve only ever witnessed the stupendously talented Stewart Lee carry off before. He manages to absolutely nail ‘high status’ & ‘low status’ within the same performance, indeed often within the same sentence. For ‘high status’ look no further than the beautifully constructed and exceptionally executed anecdote about ‘the only occasion he’s had recourse to think about Keith Lemon for more than 5 minutes’, and then top it with a 5 word put down of that ‘entertainer’ which is notable for it’s wit and savagery as much as it’s brevity. For ‘low status’, take every utterance in relation to his own body, his class inferiority complex, and the terrifying description of an exploration into ‘mortality maths’ (I urge you NOT to Google).
We are time and again given ample evidence that this is a man with no confidence, who seems to treat self-deprecation as a hobby, and carries a searing sense of guilt. Yet the stage presence, the ability to produce a room full of belly laughs in an audience of many demographics (even with jokes about incest & The Human Centipede), and a genuinely original take on ‘Cancel Culture’, suggests that ‘the man’ is simply a sensationally talented performer indeed. Even when using The Taliban as a source of moral relativism for his own, undisclosed, misdeeds he still takes the time to mock the disingenuousness of this comparison.
There is no redemption for his real or perceived sins sought, and none is given. At the end of the show there is simply a fantastically committed physical performance of a grand scatological final act which receives the, by now customary, cheering bordering on standing ovation.
I left wondering how on earth I hadn’t heard of Alexander before, let alone seen him perform. Get yourself to The Gilded Ballon before (more) 5 star reviews are published, so that you don’t have to wait as long as I did. I’m confident that this will be a breakout show for an intimidatingly skilful performer.
Ewan Law
Mumble Comedy 