Review: Another Fucking Variety Show, Jesterval
Closing the final Friday night of Jesterval 2015 in style, Another Fucking Variety Show promises a “glittering cavalcade of world-class guests”.
Featuring juggling from Mat Ricardo, magic from Paul Dabek, modern dance from Michael Standen, standup rap from Gordon Southern, and headlined by the truly inimitable Boy With Tape On His Face, this is wonderful cabaret at its most eclectic.
The show is devised and hosted by the electric Lili La Scala – who lights up the stage, not only with her personality but also with her glittering dress, featuring enough sequins to rival Archimedes’ solar death ray. La Scala is vivacious, witty, sings with an astonishingly power operatic voice, and has the sort of filthy mouth that a trooper could be proud of.
She warms up the audience with comfortable ease, and builds the applause to an orchestrated cacophony of sexual noises, introducing the Gentleman Juggling, Mat Ricardo.
Bringing the evening back to normality with his undeniable charm, Ricardo is a slick performer in the mold of a covent-garden street act. He builds real suspense throughout his act, ignoring health & safety concerns as he brings his tower cigar boxes into the audience before drinking from the glass of wine perched on top of them. His patter is top-class and his tricks are an impressive start to the evening.
After Lili returns with a skilled, if predictable, performance of The Female of the Species, magician Paul Dabek continues to amaze the audience. His condescending attitude works wonderfully with his sharp visual style and classic magic confidence.
He is heckled almost immediately as he brings out two coloured handkerchiefs in Sunderland colours, but he deals with it brilliantly and continues the trick complete with cheesy jokes and quick situational quips. Dabek is nothing out of the ordinary but he is slick, confident and has the audience watching his every small move.
Up next is Michael Standen, circus balancing act, acrobat, and modern dancer. It is unclear what the purpose of this particular act is, however – Standen is dressed in a flesh-coloured leotard and blonde wig, looking like some form of anorexic He-man as he performs an acrobatic routine set to EDM pop music. Some audience members applaud his (physically astonishing) performance but some are laughing at the odd moments of tension permeating the routines, and it is entirely ambiguous whether or not this comedy is intentional.
La Scala does a great job of bringing the audience around for a surprise appearance from Gordon Southern. A Jesterval alumni from 2014, Southern is a stand-up with a twist. His observational set is peppered with “mercifully short” prepared raps, as he jokes that his stage name is MC Briefly.
Unlike the likes of Des Bishop, Southern’s raps are deliberately uncool, and some of them are more educational than they are amusing. However his personable style always brings a laugh, even in the case of a single hostile audience member who was not enjoying the set until Southern set himself the challenge to make them laugh – eventually succeeding.
Lastly before the headline act, Paul Dabek returns to the stage with a flashlight to perform a hilarious shadow-puppet routine set to the Lion King’s “Circle of Life”, cementing the wonderfully silly nature of this evening’s show.
Finally, Sam Wills aka The Boy With Tape On His Face, perfectly illustrates the art of physical comedy and non-verbal performance in his first ever performance at Jesterval.
The set is incredibly interactive, as he brings people onstage (without giving them the option to refuse), usually makes them feel uncomfortable for a few seconds, uses them to help him perform all his routines, and then clearly makes them the stars of the show, before letting them back into their seats.
The visual and physical jokes range from double entendre to surrealism, and in one case the joke revolves around a blindfolded audience member not being aware that he is, in fact, not involved in the routine at all.
Clearly a well-trained clown/mime artist, Wills perfectly pitches his routines and uses gestures and facial cues to communicate everything he needs to onstage, even dealing brilliantly with a heckler by adding tape to her face, as well.
Somewhat of a greatest hits set, the performance by The Boy With Tape On His Face is extremely alternative, yet simultaneously very accessible, and it is no wonder that his act has led him to audiences around the world.
All things considered, Another Fucking Variety Show is an excellent way to spend both £13 and a couple of hours of your time, and the acts brought together by La Scala represent some of the sharpest talents in the performing arts world.
