★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Presented by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Adelaide Fringe Festival. Le Cascadeur at The Garden of Unearthly Delights. 4 Mar 2020.
Fudnut: Glasgow slang, meaning a person who portrays themselves as being intelligent, but thick as shit. (Urban dictionary.)
Larry Dean is no ‘fudnut’. If anything, he is the polar opposite: he regales us with eye wateringly funny stories of wholly stupid things that he has done in his quest for his ideal man (yes, he’s gay), but he does this in a entirely calculated way that just stops short of provoking ‘unhelpful’ feedback from his audience. To be sure, Dean covers some very earthy material that is sure to make some wince, but if you check your moral superiority and sensitivities at the door, you find that it’s really all good fun and just a racy exposé of someone’s reality, not just Dean’s.
Dean’s material focusses on men he has known – as lovers and boyfriends (he hates the word ‘partner’) – and why they eventually broke up. After an hour we feel we have a glimpse into why. We come to know a little more about Dean: his vulnerabilities, his inclination towards being childlike at times, and his loyalty to those whom he loves (whether they be dead or alive!). Throughout, Dean is self-deprecating and he plays it as an art-form. He almost runs the risk of depressing the audience, but just in the nick of time he re-sets and does something outrageously funny with his body and his face in time to an up tempo backing song. Classy stuff.
There is of course an extended piece about accents. Dean is of course Scottish and he can be as broad as he likes, and does. But he makes fun of the Irish, and the English, and… Aussies of course. And of course Aussies enjoy laughing at themselves but not nearly as much as at those from the former ‘motherland’!
Dean’s show is over in a blink. There’s the usual crowd interaction, but not too much (one feels safe!). There is a little bit of politics, and only a smidgen of social comment, but most of it is just plain funny storytelling, about his self and others who are significant in his life. It feels authentic, and it leaves you feeling good after it is over.
Highly recommended.
Kym Clayton
When: 4 Mar to 15 Mar
Where: Le Cascadeur at The Garden of Unearthly Delights
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
