There is a wild-haired, full-bearded, sweat-soaked figure wearing a yellow boiler suit. He has the most beautifully manicured nails. He is sitting at a table on the stage and pouring himself Corn Flakes into a bowl and then adding some milk. Now, was it almond milk or was it oat milk? In all this excitement I kinda lost track myself.
He then proceeds to eat the Corn Flakes. For several minutes. Mouthful after mouthful. It may well be the funniest thing you see at the Fringe this year.
Oh what a joy this show is. Utterly unpredictable, sometimes head-scratchingly baffling (but in a good way), unexpectedly moving at points, but mostly thrillingly silly. Currie is a man of circus skills, many voices (he does a very good Iggy Pop) and a Tayto Crisp-flavoured surrealist imagination (as he comes from Belfast let’s assume it is the Northern Irish Tayto brand in this analogy). He also makes great puppets.
But mostly he barrels around the stage jumping from one ridiculous idea and voice to the next. Some of them involve bread, another an ironing board. There is the use of sellotape and stuffed toys and a soundtrack that runs the gamut from Kool and the Gang to the Violent Femmes.
In short, he does what the best comedians do. He creates his own world on stage and invites us to join him in it.
Oh, did I mention the black dog of depression turns up at one point? That’s where Iggy Pop’s voice comes in. There are points being made here; about mental health, about the structures we impose on ourselves, about the damage we can do to each other, and about gender and sexuality.
None of which, however, derails the rampant giddiness of the atmosphere. It would be churlish not to join in when audience participation is required. And it is. Best just to go with it.
As Currie put on perhaps his silliest voice to tell us “I’m Strawberry Peeta,” repeatedly, one audience member in front of me admitted to his friend “I don’t know why it’s funny, but it is.”
It is indeed. Gloriously so.
Paul Currie: The Chorus of Ghosts Living in My Skull Keep Telling Me to Take a Shit in the Fruit Salad continues at Just the Tonic at the Caves at 9pm until August 28 (except August 10, August 15 and August 24).
