CARDIFF COMEDY FESTIVAL: BRENDON BURNS + SUPPORT | LIVE REVIEW
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Fri 25 Jul
There were 35 people at this gig. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was comedy overkill at the end of the Cardiff Comedy Festival. Whatever the reason, it was the few in attendance who had made the right decision, as Chapter Arts Theatre in Cardiff provided the perfect setting for an intimate and, at times, excruciatingly funny performance from Australian comic Brendon Burns, ably supported by current Welsh Unsigned Standup Award winner Bethan Roberts, and previous winner Matt Rees.
Rees in particular warmed up the tiny crowd with a self-deprecating 20 minutes that combined some surrealism and the embarrassing habits of his parents. A natural underdog, his comic mannerisms and elastic face reminded me of Rowan Atkinson, and his material was as funny as his understated and laid back delivery. It’s just a shame that there were so few here to see it.
This brings us to the main act. An established comedian that has appeared on television and won the if.comedy award (formerly the Perrier Award) at The Edinburgh Festival no less, Burns could be forgiven for feeling a little disconcerted about performing to three rows of people, less than three dozen human beings, about the same number of individuals that would normally be in an Argos store on a quiet weekday.
Unperturbed by this, he resisted the temptation to overplay on the small numbers, and instead sat and stood through his hour long act, which was rude, vulgar in places, loud, almost intimidating, but most of all, very very funny.
A man in the second row seemed unimpressed by some of the content on offer, but Burns is well-known for his coarse language and controversial material, so there were no shocks here as he covered issues including race, religion and the Welsh public’s placid attitude towards criticism of their own culture.
Amazingly, however, the best laughs came at the end of the show when Burns, quite ridiculously, spent 15 minutes tearing into former Governor of California and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was gutsy stand-up (“I’ve done this for a bet”) that was as likely to bomb as it was to fly, especially when performed with the aid of a mask and other props. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did; it was so bizarre that for a moment I thought I was drunk, because I don’t often laugh myself to tears.
They say you should always leave your audience wanting more, and that’s certainly what I wanted of this raucously unusual finale, although by that point I’m not sure if my sides could have taken any.
words ROB HARRIES