Lucas O’Neil is not the masculine type, more likely to cry at a movie than fight in a bar, and has lived his whole life with varying degrees of anxiety and OCD – something which he has more in check these days but is still under the scrutiny of his sister, who will question anything he does more than twice in a row ‘just in case’
With a Dad that he couldn’t really talk to, and a sister that was the favourite, his Mum was the driving force in his life, giving him words of encouragement while telling him to enjoy his beauty while he had it.
Being the youngest meant there was nothing much expected from him except the ability to accept what everyone else was doing, and this means he now has questions about how he fits into all of this thing called life.
Emotional Man is a tale of a sheltered boy growing into a sheltered man, the shared anxiety and emotional traits he had with his mother and the way that the people around us through our lives shape us into who we are.
But, maybe more importantly, it is also about the way we have to shape ourselves when the people we relied on aren’t with us anymore.
This is something he has had to recently come to terms with, and this show is as much a comedy piece as it is therapy, trying to find the answer to exactly how we are meant to cope and continue when something like this happens.
There are many moments of insight into a troubled but cared for (by his mother at least) childhood and the way that Lucas tells his story has you feeling protective at one moment and then laughing at death at the next.
After watching the show I felt like I knew the guy, even wanted to give him a hug and tell him it’ll be OK, and that is a hell of an accomplishment in sixty minutes from a standing start which just proves his storytelling is absolutely stellar.
Lucas O’Neil is not just an Emotional Man, he’s an incredibly likeable, insightful and funny one too.
4 Stars
Lucas O’Neil: Emotional Man
17:20
Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Up the Road
Aug 8-13, 15-27
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/lucas-o-neil-emotional-man
