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Daniel Kitson: Something Perrier winner
Perrier award nominee 2001. Time Out award winner 2002. The backlash is about to begin.
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Original Review:
There are clearly two sides to Daniel Kitson, and it's sometimes hard to reconcile them. On one hand, you have the arrogantly confident ringmaster of the hate-filled comedy bearpit, effortlessly batting down the most aggressive beer-fuelled heckler with an assured quick-witted response. On the other, the delicate, vulnerable misfit who finds it impossible to talk to people at parties. This is the basis for yet another touching, sublime and brilliantly funny hour that demonstrates how beautiful perfect comedy can be. In his solo shows, Kitson is quietly leading a one-man stand-up revolution, subverting the new conventions of comedy. When he talks of cannabis, it's about the ignorance and dull conformity of smoking it. When he talks of masturbation, it's about the pitiful self-loathing that follows it. He may be able to swear with the best of them, but beneath the bawdy coating, this is a surprisingly long way from the laddish stand-up you might expect. Certainly, Kitson boasts of his on-stage successes, but he is also openly confessional about his many insecurities. He is a delicate romantic - a lonely, socially inept dreamer. Such honesty offers him a unique starting point, from which he creates a complex comedy landscape. He tells it as he sees it - and his self-awareness, and his unfaltering knowledge of exactly how an audience will always react - makes a robust framework for the delicate humour. Well, it's not always that delicate, to be frank. He gets as many laughs from creatively swearing as he does from a salient piece of social comment - but he will always find the laughs, as the comedy is coming from the heart. He says he aimed for his show to be as bitter-sweet and touching as the fragile rock music of The Wannadies, and as inherently funny as a pigeon walking. Job done. |
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I know of no one past or present who is as funny as Daniel Kitson. When you add this to his phenomenal intelligence and fearlessness, you get something beyond special. No one else even comes close. Sandra, September 2002 |
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I've said it once and I'll say it again, Daniel isn't just a comedian; he's a celebration of laughter. Plus he looks funny and dumbfoundingly he manages to stutter, lisp and roll his r's when he says the word "cock" Brendon Burns, September 2002 |
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Daniel may be aware of it, though I doubt if he cares anyway, but he has single-handedly undermined the whole Middle-Eastern peace process. I hope he can live with himself. I'm not bitter. Omid Djalili, August 2002 |
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A comedy genius. Chris Chatterton, August 2002 |
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Kitson is a master social commentator poseing as an out-of-place loner. Quite the best thing on the circuit and thouroughly deserving of the Perrier Chuffy, August 2002 |
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Well done. He's a brilliant act. Let's hope he doesn't win the Perrier, it'll fuck him over. Jane Mackay, August 2002 |
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Fair play to Kitson, but one has to take into account the innovators from whom he has basically derived his comic styling, such as Geoff Boyz, Jeff Green, and Tim Clarke. These were the TRUE innovators - if Kitson is successful now, he should surely doff a cap to these men who made him what he creatively is? John Connor, August 2002 |
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The above review is beyond correct. Kitson is a whimsical comedian able to outline the horror of existence... and make you laugh too! Thoughtful joyous, cutting and very sharp. Vulnerability unmasked but worn with humour. (And he's very cute) s Pyjamas, August 2002 |
