Review by Steve Bennett

The devil may have all the best tunes, but he doesn’t necessarily have all the best comedy shows.

This low-key, late-night offering from the quietly affable Kale Bogdanovs is a kinda thoughtful, kinda funny quasi-philosophical lecture on the legend of Lucifer. And therein lies two inescapable problems. Firstly, ‘kinda’ doesn’t cut it in a crowded festival programme, and secondly the feeling that this is more academic than artistic; an essay based far more on what Bogdanovs has read than on what he feels or thinks – and is consequently more dry than anything that comes from the heart.

The lecture feel is enhanced by the almost entirely unnecessary use of a projector showing mainly woodcarving representations of Beelzebub. It would be nothing more than a distraction, was it not for the fact that there isn’t a proper screen, so the images are projected onto the back of the stage. The result is that Bogdanovs spends the entire hour in murky darkness, with bits of a picture on to his face. The two small jokes that are enhanced by the technology aren’t worth it – the only thing that’s really being projected here is a couldn’t-care-less unprofessionalism.

Bogdanovs, who has the look of comic book creator Alan Moore about him, is now an atheist who but was brought up a Seventh Day Adventist, a group who believe in the literal truth of the Bible, but in a rather unprepossessing way. That did cause some unnecessary rows from the petulant young Bogdanovs when it came to school productions of Bible stories, but it’s also given him a good knowledge of the scriptures, which he exploits here.

The conclusion is that the Devil, despite his fearsome image, is a bit rubbish, with limited tricks up his sleeve – a premise that’s illustrated by the recounting of some passages from the Good Book, but with sarcastic commentary. But the comedy is all rather straightforward, with little development of the attitude into solid jokes, and when he does come across a good idea, he milks it too muck.

Bogdanovs likes to show off the depth of his research, too, with mentions on Jungian psychology and more sardonic readings of a book from the Moonies’ library that blames all illness on Satan. That concept itself is inherently ridiculous, but Bogdanovs can’t add to it.

There’s a more intriguing section towards the end of the show when Bogdanovs explores the dark side of his own psyche – the Devil inside – as manifested by the murderous or racist thoughts that occasionally cross his mind, no matter how wrong he knows they are. This offers a glimpse into what the show could have been, but smart though it is, it’s too little, too late.

Review date: 2 Apr 2010
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett