Ever looked at your personal carbon footprint? What you find if you do may shock you so much it sends you on a trans-Atlantic odyssey to offset your impact, save the earth and become a “good boy.” At least, that’s what happened to Andrew Clover after a few harrowing life events forced him to reconsider who he was and set out on an altruistic journey to plant trees, help disadvantaged kids and find himself in the Americas.
His storytelling is engaging, and his stage presence lends a campy likeability to his tales. He projects his voice and his authoritative inflections do not allow you do divert your attention for a moment. However, he seems to take himself quite seriously, and his tales about saving the rainforests and changing people’s lives merely with his presence can leave him seeming tiresomely out of touch and self-important. There is something of the white saviour, holier-than-thou Western tourist about his story. It becomes a bit hard to stomach after a while. There is no mention of the structural causes of impending climate disaster in his show; while that isn’t exactly the point, it does cause the solutions he presents to seem woefully simplistic and individualised.
That being said, from the clever jokes he disperses throughout his tale, to the expressiveness of Clover’s stage presence, his sheer charisma and some timely use of sound and light, there’s a lot to like. His descriptive powers will put you right there with him trekking through Colombia; he is an undeniable force onstage.
Andrew Clover: A Wild Call, 13.40 Gilded Balloon, until August 11
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/andrew-clover-a-wild-call
