At the Melbourne Comedy Festival

2012 Gala

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Paul Foot: Fringe 2012
Live Review
Underbelly Cowgate

After last year’s brilliantly chaotic Still Life brilliantly subverted the artificial slickness of stand-up, Paul Foot has taken a retrograde step in returning to a more free-form surrealism, with long, sprawling nonsense stories filling up the hour.

And it’s a less impressive show for it: a stream of insane ramblings and nervous, spastic tics which has to be enjoyed for the ridiculous ride, rather than any solid payoffs. Like most surrealism, the laughs come only when Foot suddenly stops talking, and the preposterousness of what has just been said dawns upon him.

He’s got funny bones, for sure, and a very distinctive look – which this year includes a shiny silver jacket. Many in the room found him instinctively hilarious, it has to be conceded, and in their ears everything Foot said was an instant gem.

But  it’s almost a self-parody of this sort of meaningless comedy, with hubristic wasps, lesbian salmon, Sue Johnson on a trampoline and a baguette with self-esteem issues. Actually I made one of those up, it’s that easy… though admittedly there’s more to the delivery than that.

The performance is enjoyably bonkers, his awkward frame jolting in pent-up frustration, his distinctive but dull cadence crescendoing to an  intimidating rant or borderline breakdown as he becomes possessed by his oddball ideas. That the anger that consumes him comes from situations he’s clearly imagined out of nowhere is pretty funny, but not devastatingly so.

Increasingly unlikely coincidences are the only thing that holds these tales together, which is either part of the deconstructionalist charm or an infuriating cheat, depending on how you look at it. It’s obviously part of the joke, as his repeated use of the ‘meanwhile…’ to bridge unrelated segments.

The little details elevate it  – such as referring to his notes after one routine to let us know that was exactly what he had planned to say – or the mention that this show wasn’t exactly what his agent wanted of him. Very wise, that agent.

With similar attention to the little things,  gets an everyday phrase like ‘come down on you like a ton of bricks’ stuck in his mind, repeating it too frequently for comfort until it’s exposed for rather an odd turn of phrase we never paid heed to before.

But tellingly the biggest laughs came in the set piece in which he came up with appropriate anagrams for supermarket names. Though he inevitably put his own distinctive, spin on it, this was the segment that most resembled a traditional comedy ‘bit’.

Otherwise this show feels like Foot’s treading water, rather than building on the warped genius of his 2011 show.

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Sydney Comedy Festival April 2013 - 1 hour show maybe 10mins of decent material. Absurd rambling but not funny absurd rambling. First show I have genuinely wanted to leave. Alternative theatre perhaps but not comedy. Funniest part of show was the final 10 mins when he encouraged the audience to buy a CD of his material - now that was funny.

Si, April 2013

He gives comedy a bad name and doesn't deserve to be called a comedian. The judges of Chortle and So You Think You're Funny must have been on crack to allow him to become a finalist

harry, September 2012

I have to agree with a previous comment, Paul Foot is one of the most original comedians in the world. Just when you think you have him sussed, you see a new show and find yourself thinking "am I really watching this happen in front of me?" all over again. While certainly not for everybody, it's great to see him getting the recognition he's been deserving of for a decade or so when he was flying under the radar. He's an absolute legend and one of the people that turns just watching live comedy into what it should be - a memorable, unique attack on the funny bone and all the senses.

Ian, July 2012

Have not willed a show to end before. Just not my thing others in the audience seemed to though. Shame as had high hopes.

Daws, April 2012

Saw him do Set List in Nottingham, and for me he was both a revelation and the stand-out act of a distinguished bill. The pacing was excellent: he clearly thought things through before launching out into his impro, but at the same time was doing little comedy bits, to keep the audience happy, while his mind was working overtime to create a routine. Very imaginative, very funny.

Geoff F, February 2012

One of the funniest and most original comedians in the world. He is a wonderful, uplifting act and his Edinburgh show this year was terrific. Those who do not enjoy him must lack imagination and be dead inside

Matt, October 2011

People seem to love him or hate him, I'm in the latter category, he's not remotely funny, his humour is idiotic especially the horse head gibberish thing and the part where he pretends to be a women. Couldn't wait for the show to end!

Rory, October 2011

Paul Foot. Well very hit and miss and my real criticism of the show is that the 'gibberish' part with the horse's head was intrinsically an excuse for a lack of real material. I know Paul has been busy gigging but I wish (Pre-Edinburgh) he would have really put some proper time into writing at least 55 minutes of material, I think he genuinely wrote twenty - shame as he has some real potential BUT that seems to be the case now for quite a few years. At Edinburgh 2012 I expect/hope to see Paul finally reach his potential.

WB, October 2011

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