Review by Steve Bennett

Aaron Keeffe decided to quiz all his ex-girlfriends about what was wrong with him and why their relationship failed, so he could use all the knowledge gleaned to become a super-boyfriend – while we get a good chance to chuckle at his deficiencies.

So far, so good. The first and most crippling problem is that out of 11 exes he sent out, only three wanted to play along. And however you cut it, three questionnaires is not enough to build a show on.

Second problem was the questions he asked and the answers he received. Many of the questions were about the survey itself, and how surprised they were to get it – very self-referential but not very revealing. And the first one to refer to his personality asked: ‘Was I funny?’ Typical comic, that validation is all he really needs. The answer from this show, however, has to be a resounding ‘no’.

It’s not the frank, self-assessment we might have expected, just people we don’t care about exchanging bland correspondence. One of the exes nails it when she answers: ‘I think you expect me to write the jokes for you.’ And when the questionnaires don’t yield the hoped-for comedy gold, Keeffe has nowhere else to go.

There’s no awareness, no insight, no theme – and most crucially, very few jokes. Keeffe may be able to talk easily to a roomful of strangers for an hour, but that does not a comic make. Beyond the conversation, gags are few and far between. He spends forever setting up the show, even though the concept is so simple a sentence would suffice, then takes it absolutely nowhere.

Keeffe has been a stand-up for seven years, and that this show has been eight months in the planning. If this is the culmination of all that experience, then he’s learned very little. I hope he has learned more from his relationships…

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Melbourne, April 2007

Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett