Original Review:

Show Rating:

Australian comic Damian Clark already looks young enough, even without the sugar-fuelled energy that removes at least ten years from his mental age.  This seemingly spontaneous liveliness, combined with a phenomenally well-written script, makes for a fascinating and frequently hilarious hour.

In what he swears is a true story, Clark retells how he was held at gunpoint by an anonymous gun-toting bandit while working as a porter in a Perth hotel. But as well as this man narrative, Clark constantly sparks off on tangents, triggered by the slightest word or phrase from the main thrust.

Clearly, this technique allows him to insert unrelated routines into the show, rather than stretch the actual events to an entire hour.  Sometimes these tangents describe a detail that will prove to be important to the main story, but just as often that relationship is non-existent.  Yet the audience seems to accept his warped and distracted logic, so the transitions feel completely natural.

Part of this feeling surely derives from the fact that the material is so good that no one would really care how relevant it is to the main thrust.  Everything is informed by an unashamedly childish point of view, as Clark’s hasn’t grown out of being an excitable adolescent raised on video games and action movies. 

He clearly has difficulty treating any situation seriously: even  the demeanour of his friend traumatised by her gunpoint ordeal is described as ‘like acting, but better’. Judging from his performance, it’s possible that even when he felt the barrel of the shotgun nuzzled against is head, he thought, ‘this would make a great show’.

However, his immaturity masks a deeper understanding of comic writing.  Although there are perhaps one or two superfluous callbacks, the best of them are immaculately positioned and performed to outstanding effect.  Additionally, he almost perfectly uses sound and light effects, never relying upon them but using just enough at exactly the right times to complement his own emphatic performance.

There is barely a bad word to say about Clark: he is immediately likable - a characteristic that extends right until the end when he shakes everyone’s hand on their way out - distinctive and possessing a comic talent beyond his years, both biological and mental.