Show Details
Eugene Mirman Presents Himself
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2005

Eugene Mirman Presents Himself


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Description

Eugene Mirman is from New York's East Village and has been hailed as "The future of American comedy ­ if the good guy wins" Rockpile. Here he presents his quirky take on observations about society and culture, He'll probably be playing with videos and recorded phone calls and stuff along with his stand up in this hilariously absurd act. There isn't really a theme apart from his utter originality.

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Reviews

Original Review:

Show Rating:Eugene Mirman Presents Himself rated 4/5

Show and tell is a tradition of American education, and it’s something Russian-born New Yorker Eugene Mirman never seems to have left behind.

This quirky stand-up presents not only himself, but also a parade of books, video clips and recorded phone conversations, to which he provides a witty, sardonic commentary.

At first, you’re sceptical of the idea, as he introduces a video tracing the history of Scotland through its whisky, with an abysmally bad voiceover describing the country as being ‘tangible, but dreamy’. It is bizarre and funny; but it begs the question of what Mirman has actually contributed to making it so.

But then the objects of his derision become much more personal, and all the better for it. When he has a run-in with his credit card company he is filled with such righteous indignation that he releases in a deliciously-worded letter listing in perfect detail all the evils of which he thinks they are capable. And, of course, he’s brought it with him tonight.

The most sublime of these encounters is the taped conversation he has with an ultra-Christian telecoms company – and yes, there is such a thing - trying to convince him to switch his phone contract because the giant networks offend God. The very idea is scarily weird, but he mocks it perfectly.

The Bible presented as a teen magazine, with alarming hints of racism, is similarly fodder  for his sarcasm – it’s an easy target, but an obscure one, meaning Mirman can make it his own.

Not everything quite works, notably some vouchers he hands out to the audience that can be redeemed for bizarre promise. And when he gives out sex tips on video, it doesn’t work as he can’t alter his pace to match the audience response. It’s unclear why he didn’t just read them from the stage.

But Mirman is, on the whole, a distinctive comic with a enjoyably stupid, outsider stance that mostly hits the spot.

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Comments

He's got pretty much all the sense of the absurd usually missing in American stand-ups. He can toss off one liners that suck you into his world of the weird or go deep with a longer, multi-media piece. Check out his website (www.eugenemirman.com) where he has plenty of odd, short films and a great video of him bringing a heckler on-stage who had been harrassing him by e-mail before the show. Mirman, as we Americans say, hands him his ass. Wish I was there to catch the Edinburgh show

Mark, August 2005


I saw Eugene Mirman last week and I have to say his performance was of someone looking absolutely terrified. At times he just looked a little bemused as to why he was standing there. Just play your (pretty funny) multimedia Mr Mirman and leave the stage. Then we'd all be happier.

Justine Harrop, August 2005



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