Gary McNair: Donald Robertson is Not a Stand Up Comedian

Note: This review is from 2015

Theatre review by Steve Bennett at Oxford North Wall Arts Centre

Donald Robertson Is Not A Stand-Up Comedian, and nor is Gary McNair, the creator of this theatre/comedy hybrid that examines why on earth people would ever think of becoming a comedian.

And, wouldn't you know it, the answer is to beat the playground bullies. Clichéd, maybe, but this play, developed with the National Theatre Of Scotland, also raises more interesting questions about whether comedy is, by necessity, aggressive.

Our titular hero, a 'scrawny wee guy' hears the cruel laughter of his tormentors in his ears, and believes the only way to defeat them is to create the same reaction though his own devices. Initially he thinks joke-book puns might be the answer; in the end he discovers it's a combination of truthful anger – and redirecting the mockery at another member of the pack. By making them look weaker than him, the mob has a new victim.

A fictionalised version of McNair himself is the narrator of this story, which opens at the Oxford Chuckle Hut, as the city's North Wall arts centre has been rechristened for the evening. Turns out this character is a stand-up, of sorts. A terrible one, mouth dry with nerves, performing dodgy material to such silence that you can hear the sound of clothing. That bad.

Nonetheless, he feels he has a wealth of comedy knowledge to share, becoming both a mentor to McNair, and a confidant to the audience. Kneeling on the front of the stage to explain the techniques of 'first person fallibility', faux improvisation in crowd work, orThe Rule Of Three (which he's a bit loose about interpreting, but never mind).

His theory is that all comedy is a desperate attempt to be liked, and cynically suggests the key is to make up a relatable backstory – such as the 'fact' that he has a girlfriend – to get the audience on side. Then you can go for the jugular.

Such self-assured, if misguided, advice he doles out to nerdy young Donald, who he encounters cracking cheesy one-liners on a Glasgow bus, the passengers forming a try-out audience before he takes his 'knock-knock' style jokes to the dominant crowd at school. McNair's tutelage emboldens the young misfit, moulding him in his image.

Performed entirely in front of the stereotypical brick wall of a comedy club, this play makes you wonder if the real McNair might be a frustrated stand-up himself, although there are actual comedians who play with the tropes of comedy much better than this. But he's certainly not sympathetic to the art form: it's all about deceit, dominance and aggression in this interpretation, while his comedian alter-ego is deluded and terrible.

Nonetheless, the piece is engaging and raises talking points about the nature of humour – beyond its initially naive thoughts – which should interest any casual student of the art.

• Gary McNair: Donald Robertson Is Not A Stand-Up Comedian is at Reading South Street Arts Centre tonight; Northern Stage in Newcastle on October 20 and 21 and Shoreditch Town Hall in London from November 9 to 13.