Danny MacGinlay: Star Spangled Bender
Note: This review is from 2006
Review by Steve Bennett
The first 20 minutes or so of Danny McGinlay’s American-themed show are something of a jumble. If he’s setting out his stall, it’s one as higgledy-piggledy as the bric-a-brac stand at the Parkinson’s Society summer fete, with everything all over the place.What is clear is that Star Spangled Bender is part American history, part travelogue – but on to this is thrown all manner of random stand-up fragments about High School days, say, or movies. And boy, does McGinlay love movies (especially Harry Potter, even though he’s not 12) as demonstrated by the fact almost everything he mentions is somehow referenced back to a big-screen blockbuster.
Back on topic, he attempts to debunk many myths about US history: from Columbus, via the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to the secrets of President Woodrow Wilson – sequences which are always interesting, even if McGinlay struggles to find too many gags in them.
He finds it easier to deliver the first-hand anecdotes about his road trip with his long-term friend Putnam. He takes great delight in portraying his pal as a screaming, mincing queen, even though he’s not – an in-joke which delights Putnam, who happens to be in the audience tonight, but baffles everyone else.
Aside from this affectation, these tales are his forte, perfectly suiting his bright, upbeat and gregarious style. There’s a reassuring confidence about McGinlay’s youthful delivery that means he can shoot the breeze and still hold the attention.
And it’s these stories that ultimately save of the show. Gradually, McGinlay finds his focus, abandons the frippery and hones in on his theme. The segments get better and better, and the extended tale in which he encounters the most tenuous of celebrities and almost defaces their $40,000 Lord Of The Rings first edition just to save face, is an expert piece of storytelling, hooking the listener into its various twists.
Its denouement proves a perfect conclusion to the show, drawing the main themes together and giving proceedings a bit of, admittedly superficial, clout.
This was only his second show of the festival, and still lacked some last-minute bits of illustrative animation. At the moment, it’s fun, but with some tinkering, especially in the meandering first half, could easily become better still.
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Melbourne, April 2007
Review date: 1 Jan 2006
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
