John Robertson lives up to his cognomen in a precociously manic hour of standup. He charges out from behind a curtain, shouting at the top of his lungs and discarding the stage behind him as if it were some redundant obstacle placed there to impede him as he prowls around his arena, seeking his prey. No one is safe, and he spends a good fifteen minutes picking out members of the audience with which to target his playful invectives. He’s at his improvisational best in these segments, and he generates some serious laughs with apposite insults; you do start to wonder when he’ll get into the meat of his set, however.
But it turns out what you get from the start is the meat; he keeps up his high-octane improvisation throughout his free-flowing set. The only exceptions being when breaks out his ukelele – complete with distortion pedal – and launches full voice into song. It felt like his set could have done without them; the lyrics aren’t all that clever and most of them seem manufactured to contrive some more audience involvement and singalongs – which he didn’t need considering the quality and quantity of the crowd work he performs throughout.
There are also points where he seems slightly lost or unsure how to react to something; he doesn’t stall or fall silent in these moments, rather, he always ups the ante – clambering onto chairs or running off somewhere – at times it works, but he can end up going in circles. However, for his sheer energy and off-the-wall insanity he’s your man.
John Robertson: Human Hurricane, 20.20, Laughing Horse @ Counting House, until August 25
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/john-robertson-the-human-hurricane
