BWW Reviews: Deep Fried Man Lifts Mediocre FUNNIER THAN THEM at the Fugard

A good friend of mine often says that stand-up comedy is one of those things that cannot be mediocre. A comic either gets it or not - and I would have to add that there are few things more tedious than a comic who falls into the latter category. Due to the technicality that the show consists of a line-up of three comics, FUNNIER THAN THEM bucks the trend and manages to be a thoroughly mediocre affair. It is also the one thing I have seen at the Fugard Theatre, where both serious theatre and light entertainment thrive side-by-side in its two exquisite venues, that sticks out like a sore thumb. The sense of FUNNIER THAN THEM not being at home in one of Cape Town's friendliest theatre venues was highlighted by the constant to and fro of audience members going to the bar downstairs during the performances - and that has as much to do with declining standards of audience etiquette as is does with the fact that nobody really needs a beer to distract them when a show works.

FUNNIER THAN THEM starts off and is linked by an animation of a retired comic named Gerry D Atric. While the joke of his name elicits groans from the audience, the jokes he cracks as he introduces each of the three comics in the show, Chris Forrest, Warren Robertson and Deep Fried Man play to an almost silent house. Only when the humour becomes slightly topical and a little edgy as the show shifts gear into Deep Fried Man's set, are the animated host's wisecracks able to lift an eyebrow and raise a chuckle from the crowd.

In fact, it is only at that point that FUNNIER THAN THEM really kicks off. Deep Fried Man is a more inventive and versatile comic than his peers, with satiric songs and parodies being the centrepiece of his brand. He is the only one of the trio who is able to sense where the audience is and really engage them in the moment of performance. And he was the only one of the three who did not apologise for being catatonic in the dressing room on opening night. (Frankly, the state of a performer in the dressing room matters very little to me; arriving on stage barely awake is a different story.) Deep Fried Man pokes fun at the white identity crisis, Capetonians, Oscar Pistorius - not unexpectedly, but we'll all be glad when that ship has sailed - and Pharrell Williams's "Happy". He even makes up a song on the spot. Deep Fried Man is the only comic in FUNNIER THAN THEM that is funnier than anyone.

Robertson's selling point is that he deals in dark, intelligent humour, with his best jokes originating in the autobiography of his stage persona. There are moments when Robertson manages to land a gag well, but for the most part he is reminiscent of that archetypal high school teacher we all remember from our past, the one who tries hard to be funny and entertaining, but who does not always succeed. But at least he is trying. Forrest, who has built his brand on the delivery of dry one-liners and perfect comic timing, just falls flat. His half hour of jokes about hackneyed South African topics is almost too much to bear. That Robertson and especially Deep Fried Man manage to pull the show out of the rut in which Forrest places FUNNIER THAN THEM at its very start is no small testament to their capabilities.

At the National Arts Festival this year, FUNNIER THAN THEM managed to get some mileage out of a poster featuring all three comics alongside a big arrow that pointed to whichever poster was placed next to theirs. "Come watch us," they seemed to say, "because we're funnier than everyone." Because of the sheer range and depth of artists that take part in the National Arts Festival, that was at least partially true: Forrest, Robertson and Deep Fried Man were bound to funnier than some of the competition. Here, in Cape Town, with Marc Lottering currently on stage in THIS IS CAPTAIN LOTTERING SPEAKING and the multi-comic MASS HYSTERIA coming next week, I would be tempted to hedge my bets and say that at least one of those shows might be funnier than FUNNIER THAN THEM. That said, on his own merits, Deep Fried Man certainly offers the other comics appearing in town a run for their money. Here's to seeing him in a new solo show that truly gives his talent form.

FUNNIER THAN THEM runs at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town until 6 September 2014 at 8pm nightly and tickets cost from R110 to R130 via Computicket or directly from the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554.

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