Bizarrely I ended up seeing Ross Noble’s show in Adelaide twice. So I’m in the privileged position of knowing there are comedy bits in the show and there is a structure of sorts – although you would never be able to figure out which bits they were if you were seeing the show for the first time.
Noble, is a master of comic extemporisation. He prevaricates, he rambles, he digresses. He is distracted by a gesture, a laugh an outfit or god help us, a heckle from the crowd.
So much of what he does is genuinely spontaneous. He riffs on the atmosphere in the room – or in this case the tent. One of his major themes tonight is the sound pollution drifting from a circus tent in another venue across the road. On the first occasion he had a wonderfully unhinged outburst about the sound of crickets chirping in the eucalyptus trees.
The stage is decorated with blow up carnival versions of his face – on the body of a fish, as the head of an octopus, as two waving jack in the boxes with light up eyes. He makes his entrance through a giant blow up replica of his own head.
There’s tremendous self awareness in what he does. Noble understands his own comic style intimately. And for those in the audience who are stragglers, he offers a running commentary on what may or may not be happening on stage.
He has a huge appreciation of his audience and a charming tendency to join them in laughing at the eccentricities of his wandering patterns of thought. No one is left behind.
Although he has a running gag about being cancelled – constantly checking whether he’s gone too far – it’s surely impossible to be offended by this wonderfully gifted comic who conjures laughter out of each present moment.
What he does is extraordinary – appearing to flail and panic and exist in a state of constant surprise – he’s actually thoroughly at ease and genuinely in control. Watching the same show twice gives you some appreciation of the artistry – but also gives you another chance just to enjoy the silliness, spontaneity and fun.
Ross Noble is at the Garden of Unearthly Delights in Adelaide Fringe Until March 23
Tickets here:
https://www.gardenofunearthlydelights.com.au/event/ross-noble-cranium-of-curiosities
