Review: DAVE BIBBY: BABY DINOSAUR, The Caxton Arms

“This is my Jurassic Park now”

Dave Bibby: Baby Dinosaur starts with a simple concept - Dave Bibby is going to do a one-man show of the film Jurassic Park, putting on a mini movie for audience members. But, even when planning for a show, life finds a way, and Bibby finds himself unable to write the show due to the birth of his son, Leo. The audience is warned early on that there is going to be lots of audience interaction, but Bibby promises it will all be friendly, saying, “The joke is always gonna be on me.”

But what exactly will the audience be doing? Well, Bibby still plans on putting on Jurassic Park, but it’s no longer a film “all performed by one man . . . One sexy little man.” Now, the audience becomes the sound team, passing around a book representing the sound booth to provide effects at specific times, given by a PowerPoint presentation on a screen on stage. Some of these sounds include honking (there is a surprising amount of geese!), quotes from Jurassic Park and, for reasons that never become clear, Mr. Blobby noises.

There are some truly terrible puns throughout the show, including a bit about a chef with a foot fetish making “shoup,” “shnoodles,” “shushi” and Beef Wellington. There are also quite a few meme references found like classic cat memes and the bizarre yet hilarious goose with human arms that was popular a few years back. When making the sound of a T-Rex, Bibby uses sounds to make it more “2024 scary,” including James Corden singing. The iconic Clippy also makes several appearances as Bibby’s assistant scientist, a delightful throwback for those who used Microsoft Word in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Along with the process of making our movie, Bibby takes moments in between scenes to tell us what it has been like raising his son, Leo, going over topics like how newborn babies aren’t actually cute and that the only safe place as a parent is the toilet. I particularly loved the moment when Bibby told us about his son’s love for dinosaurs and showed an adorable video of him dressed up as one, running down a street and falling over.

The highlight of the show? The people! There is nothing like singing the Jurassic Park theme song with a group of people you have just met in a cramped room underneath a pub. It truly sums up the fun that a Fringe show should be. In fact, we were having so much fun that Bibby skipped a few bits about parenthood and babies, letting the audience have more time to play with the movie we had created. 

Ultimately, Dave Bibby: Baby Dinosaur is a brilliant hour of comedy that brings an audience of strangers together to celebrate not only one of the greatest movies of all time but the joy of family and being loved.

Dave Bibby: Baby Dinosaur ran on 25 May at The Caxton Arms.

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