Mark Forward is indescribable as he flickers between rage, happiness and total delusion. At all times, you have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Mark runs in and out and spends more time off the stage than on it. There are no segues, no story and lots of laughs.
After appearing as a robot from the future, Mark quickly scraps this, seeing the audience’s reaction isn’t to his liking, and turns to improv. Learning in a group from an ex-con, Mark is excited to showcase his level-one improv talent. He queues the music, queues the walk, wears all the gear… and fails multiple times. Just not quite taking on his full potential as Steve/Brandon, the dodgy presenter of safari time.
But it’s not all his fault. Mark argues that the audience isn’t enthusiastic enough, well, most of the audience anyway. Mark has a love-hate relationship with the audience, not in the usual sense; he literally loves only two people out of the entire audience and hates the rest. Not really, we are assured it’s just a “bit”, but I am not so sure, those two were very enthusiastic laughers.
With no segue (of course), Mark moves on to more important topics like how old MacDonald HAD and lost his farm, and the great Xavier McCutcheon, the legendary Bear Namer, that, of course, everyone knows (entirely made up), has his own theme song.
Mark Forward is extremely silly. He has the imagination of a child with the humour of an adult, and weirdly, the combination works well. His unpredictable antics keep the audience guessing and engaged. His energy is infectious, and the absurd humour fills the room with laughter.
Mark Forward Presents Safari Time 20.20, Gilded Balloon Patter House, until August 25
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mark-forward-presents-safari-time
Abby Brunnen
