Review: ADAM WILLIS: JOSEPH, VAULT Festival

"Carpentry is a lot like riding a bike - It's all about having faith"

As someone who loves comedy and went to a Catholic school named after Saint Joseph, I immediately felt drawn to Adam Willis: Joseph. The VAULT Festival's website stated that "Adam's hilarious retelling of the Nativity story puts a dimly-lit spotlight on the Bible's third-best carpenter; Joseph of Nazareth."

The show's preshow music was Pentatonix's "Joy to the World," a celebration of Jesus being born and arriving on Earth to the joy of Heaven and nature. Clearly a Pentatonix fan, Willis then entered the stage to the acapella group's cover of "Mary Did You Know?", performing a dramatic interpretive dance that would make Martha Graham shed a tear (of joy? Of horror? The world will never know). He is dressed as a holy man, with a white sheet wrapped around his body and a ring light on his head meant to represent a shining halo.

The story follows Joseph, the husband of Mary and the adoptive father of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Willis depicts a man who is focused on his dreams of carpentry, a man who may not definitely believe that his teenage wife has "miraculously" become pregnant. Throughout the show, Joseph is determined to finish a display table, much to the chagrin of his wife, who makes quips like, "You won't need to go to the timber yard, I'm giving birth to the Son of God."

Almost immediately, I felt myself falling in love with the show. It most likely began with Willis's first monologue to the audience, in which he broke character and spoke to us as the star of the show. He complained about how boring nativity plays typically are, reasoning that it's because most of them are performed by untrained children who can't act. Luckily for us, Willis promises that he will show off his acting skills, proven quickly by his improvisation at the trains rumbling above and his complaining about God's thunder. Willis continues to break the fourth wall throughout the show, sometimes praising his own acting skills with claims like "This is the kind of thing you don't get from kids!" After miming walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

If you know your Bible stories, particularly Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, there are some moments that are brilliantly foreshadowed throughout the show and a few others that will leave you laughing harder than expected. Along with this foreshadowing, the exposition is obvious to everyone but still just as hilarious, like one scene where Joseph turns on the television and the show's host announces it as "Poorly segued exposition."

Throughout the show, Jesus is portrayed as both a precocious child and an arrogant teenager, one who is determined to follow his dream of spreading the word of God while also insulting Joseph's "sad life" along with Mary. Joseph openly expresses his frustration with claims like "When you came along you ruined my life. Everyone thinks you're so special but you've ruined everything."

One of my favourite moments was a dream sequence that Joseph has in Bethlehem in which he is the star of a carpentry-themed television show, Mr. Tabletop, showing off his joinery skills and taking questions from the audience. He has a hilarious monologue that begins with "Carpentry is a lot like riding a bike - it's all about having faith," an interesting quote that sends him off on a long tangent about faith and wood. Willis shows off some very inappropriate joinery techniques, both in the form of poor technique and of sexual innuendo.

While I refuse to spoil the incredible ending, as it truly does have to be seen, it included a fantastic reveal that was then followed by one of the greatest and most surprising theatrical reveals I had ever witnessed, one that could be easily compared to Phantom's chandelier drop and the barricade reveal in Les Mis.

Ultimately, Adam Willis: Joseph is an absolutely brilliant show that had me in tears of laughter by the end. The set is simple yet works perfectly in complementing Willis and his sense of humour. I adored his take on the man behind Saint Joseph, regardless of how inaccurate the stories may have been.

Adam Willis: Joseph played at the VAULT Festival in the Crypt at The Vaults on 26 and 27 January.

Photo Credit: VAULT Festival

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