Gerry Howell: Glorious Invention |
Published on Monday, 16 July 2012 | |||||
Smart, surreal, and self-deprecating, comedian Gerry Howell caught our eye at the Brighton Fringe back in May – earning one of our Editors’ Choice awards for his shambling but consistently entertaining show. He’s won awards in Buxton too, and a couple of four-star reviews in Edinburgh; but best of all, as part of PBH’s Free Fringe, you can make up your own mind about his absurdist act before any money changes hands. To be honest, we can’t tell you what to expect from Howell’s new show, since the randomness of his subject matter is part of his appeal. But we can say what we thought of his previous outing, Parrot Fashion Accessories, at the Brighton Fringe this year. It won over our reviewer Mathilda Gregory with it silly, indescribable, loopy stories; they were sometimes touching, she wrote, sometimes one-liners, and sometimes just ideas which trailed away. But whatever happened, his material was very funny… and fascinatingly underplayed. Howell’s press release offers tantalising glimpses of what’s to come – with talk of chess-playing pandas, dressing up as an anagram, and something about Shakespeare being born in an ostrich egg – but really, it’s a show you’ll have to experience to understand. This style of comedy isn’t for everyone, we know… but we think it’s worth giving this glorious inventor a try. |
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FROM OUR ARCHIVES
These are archived reviews of shows from Edinburgh 2012. We keep our archives online as a courtesy to performers, and for readers who'd like to research previous years' reviews.