Ross Noble
Amy and I went to see Ross Noble perform at the Canberra Theatre Centre last night. He is one of those rare people who can genuinely just talk and make funny, spontaneous observations about almost anything. He utilises that ability to construct a very random show that twists and turns, simply incorporating whatever he happens to think about. He is also a fan of self-referential humour, either by criticising his own actions or acting as he imagines an audience might at his antics.
Unfortunately for me its all just a bit too uneven. Ross is a fan of tangential observations, which when used to full effect can be very funny. Ross however seems unable to ignore tangents that are less funny than his current topic, leading to a show whose comedic value ebbs and rises.
The polished traditional comic seems to avoid this: in utilizing essentially the same stories each performance they can fine-tune jokes or simply drop them if the audience don’t react. Ross is unable to take advantage of this, and despite being incredibly gifted over a 2 hour period I definitely started to wish for a little bit more structure – or dare I say it – rehearsal.
That said, it was still a great show to watch; if only to watch a rare talent in action. Ross is capable of some incredibly humorous comments, and the spontanenous nature of his observations only adds to the appeal. Just don’t expect to be fully entertained for the full performance.