Flange Krammer: Fringe 2012
Live Review
Laughing Horse @ Espionage

German ski ace Flange Krammer’s material is, very much like his job, going downhill very fast.

But that’s the joy of this unabashed, joyous carnival of  cheesy puns and scrappy audience participation. The nutty character allows creator Neil Dagley to sell his appalling wordplay with such powerfully exaggerated, and entirely misplaced, vigour that the effect is so much more than the jokes could ever be alone.

He celebrates the weakest of punchlines with a triumphant: ‘Eaaaaat my powder!’ or by barking out a plug for his sponsor, Austria’s second-favourite energy drink Power Horse. It’s all ridiculously stupid, and as long as you’re in the mood for that, he has the energy and commitment to the performance is unshakeable. The Germans have a reputation for industriousness, and Krammer works mighty hard to get everyone on board, overcoming some understandable reluctance. ‘You might as well get into it,’ he says early on. ‘It isn’t going to get any better.’ Most do, but some don’t.

The heavy German accent – sounding as if spoken by a Sun headline-writer on the eve of a World Cup clash – adds to the oddness, and further detaches the jokes from any suggestion that they are supposed to be good. It’s self-deprecating with very little acknowledgement of that being what he’s doing. As for depth of character, there’s little beyond his brassy arrogance, snigger-worthy first name, and immense sex drive.

An hour of this brashness and silliness is something of a stretch, however, even though Dagley does his best to keep things interesting with low-rent game show elements, reading from his diaries from the 1998 Japan Winter Olympics, or including an entirely random scene featuring the Man From Del Monte.

He doesn’t quite take the gold, but for uncomplicated fun, Krammer delivers the goods.