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Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2005
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Matt Devereaux
Matt playfully weaves slanderous stories about celebrities, aristocracy and outcasts. A fast hard-hitting hybrid of stand-up, character, micro-dramas and songs, classy romantic and rude. High-energy and unashamedly slick. 'Derek and Clive meets Elgar'.
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Original Review:
Matt Devereaux has clearly come to the Fringe well ahead of his time. Judging by his aristocratic accent, he has the cash to blow on staging a show to blow on an exercise that might help him grow as a comic. It is more for him than his audience, who have to suffer a 40 minutes of poor material as he struggles to find his comedy feet. The sparse few who do show up endure a lot of aimless chit-chat. For example, after explaining that his surname is French, he embarks on an unfocussed discussion of the language with a fellow speaker in the room, showing off his mastery of French tongue-twisters, though I’m not quite sure why. He has got quite a range of accents, all employed to no good effect. He does a Loyd Grossman, for instance, just to say he can be a bit annoying. Or he adopts a harsh Ulster tone to imagine Margaret Thatcher in a porn film. What is this, I Love 1989? Not just in references, but in tired, aching style. Add to the mix of styles he can’t quite settle on a crushingly dull comedy song, and some stand-up that doesn’t come from the heart… more like the colon. There are some glimmers of hope for Devereaux, with a small smattering of lines suggesting sly wordplay might be his forte. With a bit of experience and hard work, he could have a solid ten minutes in time for next year’s festival. Which is a bit tough when he’s doing 40 at this one. |
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The "toff" act can be seen on youtube. A performance made a few months before the Edinburgh show that so upset Mr Bennett. Simply type in the name 'matt devereaux' and 'My friend Prince Philip' and watch an excerpt from the old asylum club in London. It is so obviously a comic caricature. Matt is not that brilliant and actor, though he was obviously good enough to raise the resentful petty-bourgeois hackles of this reviewer. A more sophisticated crowd at this performance laugh heartily at what is essentially a harmless spoof! Sir Peter Hall, April 2013 |
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With virtually the same material this performer was a finalist in the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year. How could such an improvement taken place within seven months? Bennett has a reputation as an inverted snob of which this review is a typical example.! DR ZOG, December 2012 |
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Bennett get over it. Feel free to to come to tea at my posh house in north London. x matt Devereaux, November 2009 |
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Matt is one of the most talented comedians in the business. The 'Posh with cash to blow' insinuation by this critic is absurd. Julian Defries, August 2009 |
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Your reviewer is a halfwit who missed out on the golden age of NME contrary "journalism" (which ended around the time Julie Burchill started writing for the Face) and erroneously believes his "I'm-SOOOO-iconoclastic-me" stance has any significance whatsoever outside the environs of his arse, where it remains firmly stuck. Zorro the avanger, October 2007 |
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I caught one of Matt's shows the other day. Loads of laughs, so I thought I'd Google him and found this rubbish. The opinions of this critic represent unresearched prejudice. Suzanne, March 2007 |
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This 'critic' has obviously come to Edinburgh ahead of his/her time - with a bit more hard work and er...experience he/she might manage a decent paragraph next time round. I have seen Matt Devereaux on several occasions and he is an exceptionally funny, polished and orginal entertainer. Oh and imagine my surprise when I discovered he wasn't aristocratic at all! He was putting it all on, like an act or something! Aidan H, December 2006 |
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I saw Matt Devereaux at the Try Out night at Downstairs at the Kings Head, and he stormed it. He was by far one of the best acts on and I would gladly see him again. He also proved himself to be a mean beatboxer. Brett Goldstein, December 2006 |
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Your evident ignorance of Devereaux's prodigious past work makes one question your authority as a 'critic' in this field. Accusing him of being an aristocrat who thinks he can muddle through on the comedy circuit is hilarious - like accusing Ali G of being a black street kid chancing it is a TV roving reporter. It's his ACT for godsakes Shorty, October 2005 |
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The posh persona is adopted as part of the act . but that seemed to go over your head alas. Matt Devereaux, October 2005 |
