I found You Cry Weird simply because I had a gap in our Fringe schedule that needed filling. Sometimes that spontaneity produces unexpected gems… Tony Cantwell instead gave me an amiable hour that I enjoyed without ever finding anything particularly memorable.
An opening attempt at crowd work, identifying who was drunk and therefore potentially more likely to find him funny, feels a little predictable. Fortunately, Cantwell soon moves into much more personal territory.
The show takes its title from Cantwell’s tendency to cry at some wonderfully unlikely things. Beneath that is a more reflective thread about family, insecurity and the way we see ourselves, all filtered through Cantwell’s warm, self-deprecating storytelling.
It is the later material around fatherhood, and particularly his relationship with his young daughter, that stayed with me most. Cantwell’s stories about being a dad provide some of the hour’s most endearing moments and reveal genuine affection beneath the comedy.
And perhaps ‘endearing’ is the key word. Cantwell is a warm, likeable storyteller, but I wanted the material to bite rather harder. Too often I found myself smiling at an affectionate or self-deprecating story when I wanted to be properly laughing.
There is nothing wrong with gentle comedy, and audiences that connect with Cantwell’s experiences of family and fatherhood may find considerably more here than I did.
For me, You Cry Weird is a pleasant hour in engaging company. I just wish it had made me laugh more.
Tony Cantwell: You Cry Weird, 22:00, Underbelly Bristo Square – Jersey, until 30 August
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/tony-cantwell-you-cry-weird
