February 22, 2013
Quirky, unusual and completely random (in a good way!) were my first thoughts after this enjoyable performance. I had never been to a comedy show like it before, where the comedian speaks to you from the back of the theatre by projecting himself onto the on-stage film screen at the front. Munnery even acknowledges himself that never before could a performer watch himself perform at the same time as performing! Munnery brands this type of performance as ‘Fylm-Makker’ - making a live film whilst performing live to an audience.
He used cardboard animations to tell stories, to make jokes and to entertain the audience. The show was accompanied by Mac Moriarty on the guitar, who also, delightfully, played a blues piece at the interval.
At times the animations reminded me of early Python work; certainly a similar blend of comic genius and the bizarre. I particularly enjoyed the ‘shy avocado’. The animations lent an almost childlike sense of fun to the evening, which added to the light-hearted approach the show takes to comedy.Surprisingly enough, Munnery asked for certain comments in his review and, because I enjoyed the show, I am happy to oblige. One requested description was "deeply profound and seemingly inane" (much better, as Munnery pointed out, than being seemingly profound but deeply inane). I didn't actually find the show inane at all; it was very cleverly put together, if very surreal in places. He also asked for it to be described as "overwhelmingly orange" (shortly before showing us a piece of orange card on the screen).
The overall impression of the show was a mixture of endearing absent-minded behaviour combined with a beautiful sense of the absurd. Munnery was at his funniest when making observations about everyday life, especially the paradoxical song lyrics of One Direction. He ended the show well, although I would have happily stayed longer (the show is just over an hour in duration). An entertaining, unusual and interesting evening!