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Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2003
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Gary Le Strange: Polaroid Suitcase
In the future, everything will look exactly like the future used to look like in 1981.
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Original Review:
From the moment Gary Le Strange is introduced, you realise what a fantastic target for comedy the Eighties New Romantic pop stars provide, with their pretentious, art-school posturing completely at odds with their nerdy reality. With hindsight, it's so obvious someone would eventually parody the likes of Adam Ant, Japan and Gary Numan -but Waen Shepherd has done it first, and done it brilliantly. His attention to the smallest of details is what makes the spoof so effective. The original bands were almost self-parodies in the first place, but Shepherd has delicately judged the subtle tilt required to show them up while still staying reasonably credible. With his extravagant, dramatic gestures and ridiculously overblown philosophies, the character sets himself up for the fall that the trite lyrics eventually provide, as he rails against conformity and commercialism with a moronically simple philosophy that he considers profound He certainly looks the part, with badly-drawn face and a range of dandyish and pervy costumes to capture his period, whether inspired by foppish romantic poets ("I am the Byronic lord of pop") or sexy robots ("I am the bionic lord of pop"). The performance is top-drawer, too, as he cockily struts the stage throwing disconcertingly crazed melodramatic stares at the audience. Combine this with a spoof songwriting skill worthy of Neil Innes, with such spot-on pisstakes as Is My Toaster Sentient? and I'm Japanese, and you've got a parody that does for the New Romantics what former Perrier winners Garth Marenghi did for the horror-writing genre. A cult is born... |
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ntastic, really fantastic. Mr Le Strange is a great comic creation, with some fantastically faux-modern synth pop gems. My only niggle is that the dialogue between these songs is less amusing than the songs themselves. Looks very pretty in PVC though. Mr Pointon Jones, August 2003 |
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Mostly very funny. James Cook, August 2003 |
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Waen's coup of a character must not be missed. And top reviews and awards and tasty biscuits must be showered upon him. Long live the grand peacock of pop! Ro, August 2003 |
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Almost everything Waen has ever done in comedy has had the touch of genius. If he's living up to his promise he should be seen now, before comedy remakes itself in his image and you feel like an Elvis fan hearing his first blues Nick Doody, August 2003 |

