Strap in tight, this one is a little crazy.
Alex Franklin bombards you with jokes at 100 miles per hour and if you can keep up, you will love them for it. The show is centred on a revived triceratops, but to reduce ‘Dinosaurusesuses’ to a single storyline would be an insult to all the other wonderfully hilarious skits Franklin manages to jampack into this chaotic hour. But as it is the title, most of the focus is on the tale of the bizarre life of this revived dinosaur twenty year in the future.
Almost every punchline you hear in this performance will have you in stitches purely because of its stupidity. This is in no way a bad thing, in fact, Franklin needed to pause their show for a minute waiting for people to calm down over a daft pun. To make quickfire deadpan comedy land so consistently is purely to Franklin’s credit as a performer. And their talents seem to know no boundaries when Franklin showcases their musical prowess.
Like the true performer they are, Franklin knows how to toy with the audience, luring you in so you think you know what is coming before suddenly derailing into the unimaginable. It is at these parts of the show that you are in awe of Alex. What they are saying is undeniably ludicrous comedy gold, but you sit back and wonder how any human could think of such a thing.
I can easily see how ‘Dinosaurusesuses’ will be lapped up by the TikTok generation, fleeting from story to story before there is any chance boredom could set in, but the show is far more cohesive than that. Throughout, there are enjoyable call backs to all the tomfoolery that has come before, call backs which Alex occasionally tells you are coming. Things like this make the show utterly daft but a genuinely well-crafted piece. Franklin isn’t throwing things out there and seeing what sticks, it is just a very different and performative production of a great stand-up show.
All culminating in a big reveal, Franklin’s show is the embodiment of the absurdity and high-paced energy of the Fringe and definitely one to check out.
Alex Franklin: Dinosaurusesuses
22:50 at Just the Tonic at The Caves (Venue 88)
August 4 – 14, 16 – 28
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/alex-franklin-dinosaurusesuses
