Don't Be Lonely. The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur. 18 Feb 2015
Squidboy has now grown into a ‘Kraken’. A kraken is a mythical sea monster thought to inhabit the ocean between Norway and Greenland. Trygve Wakenshaw is a legendary physical movement comedian sighted regularly in a sea of audiences at festivals and fringes around the world, catching a swag of ‘best-of’ awards, and there are many that got away.
I was giddy from the very start. Wakenshaw is a rubber man with an uncanny ability to physicalise and vocalise character, animals, events, and objects. He is also a master of lateral thinking. Sizzling BBQ meat morphs into the hiss of a snake lulled by a snake charmer controlling the tune with a radio volume dial of compliant audience participation. A confident weightlifter transmogrifies into a mother and baby that magically becomes a drama on TV and then the birth of a horse. His human characters are hilariously hapless and naff.
Imaginary objects in his hands are easily suggested and are used in supernatural and surreal tasks. I was reminded of Robin Williams in ‘Mork and Mindy’ or even Williams' role model, Jonathan Winters. Wakenshaw loves to be looked at and could not finish the show. After an encore of embarrassing (if I was doing it) free style dance to a popular tune, he was imitating a stage hand changing over the set for the next show as the last audience member filed out; yes, that was me. Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 13 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
