Trav Nash: Lost The Plot

Original Review:

Trav Nash’s first full-length show is part stand-up, part showcase for his short films and part extreme cabaret, thanks to a guest who steals the show.

His stand-up’s not yet fully formed, although he’s endowed with bags of spiky energy, just like the pumping rock music thank brings him to the stage. The fast-paced routines, full of local Adelaide colour, throw up the occasional gem of a punchline, often when he’s ad-libbing, but lacks the focus to really hit home. His relentless enthusiasm ensures it’s never dull, mind.

The films he screens show a lot of directorial potential. Each has a strong distinctive look, but each very different from the next. Best of the lot is a faux documentary about a man who dances his way through the streets of the city in a wetsuit and snorkel, so well executed that you’re temporarily duped into thinking it might be real.

There’s also a silly bit of Lego animation and a spoof Japanese-looking cartoon, Ninja Monkey, that are worth a wry smile rather than being split-your-sides hilarious – but they’re better than most the similar shorts floating around the internet’s glut of user-generated content sites.

But it’s Nash’s guest star who will sear himself into the audience’s memory, probably giving them collective nightmares. Mr Tetanus pokes a needle through both cheeks, heatbutts a rabbit trap, lifts weights with his nipples, puts a meat hook into his flesh and nails his ballsack to a plank of wood, all in eye-watering close-up. Euwww.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Adelaide, March 2007

Date of review: Mar 2007