Comedy review: David Quirk: Approaching Perfection
Star rating: ****
Venue: Heroes @ Bob’s BlundaBus
Nonetheless Quirk, who has played huge venues in his native Australia, soldiers on, welcoming latecomers, trying not to bang his head on the ceiling.
He hands out a set list, which tells us he’s planning to begin the show with crowd work – and he wastes no time getting to know the audience. Trouble is, the audience now think they are David Quirk’s friend.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe’s brought along a bag of props from Australia, including a packet of pills, which are the centrepiece of his first story. He ends up sharing the packet with a lady on the front row, who tells him she’s run out of paracetamol.
This sort of thing happens throughout the show. A man in the crowd starts a chat about racism on public transport. Paracetamol lady gets a bit giddy when he starts describing sexy older women.
Quirk is having fun. But he’s also anxious about the time. He has a big bag of props to go through and he has to run through everything on his set list.
Although his nervousness is genuine, he also knows what he’s doing on stage. His stories make magic and laughter out of mundane circumstances and he’s happy to dive into deep waters such as sex and death.
If he wasn’t on the top floor of a bus with a bunch of slightly pissed people who think he’s their friend the show’s structure might be a bit more clear. But he gets to the end of his set list. Everyone has a good time and we go off laughing into the night.
Until 29 August. Today 8:15pm.