Saturday, June 27, 2009

Soul-Crushing Vicissitudes of Fortune

Walk into the Pleasance Comedy Club in London and one would expect it to look like any other comedy club they have been to.  There are flyers and advertisements of the featured comedians on the walls, a place to buy tickets, and a bar to buy pres-how drinks.  What is unexpected is that after entering the upstairs room, which is full of darkness, chairs, and a microphone, one immediate begins to sweat bullets and feel slightly uncomfortable.  Most attempt to ignore the heat as the comedian, Andrew Lawrence, introduces himself onstage and begins to perform his “Soul-Crushing Vicissitudes of Fortune.”

At first, the audience gets the impression that this man has the typical “British style humor” and it works for him.  He is witty and is constantly applies British culture to his jokes and punch lines, along with self-incriminating comments about being a skinny ginger with an awkward sounding voice.  This style of humor will produce laughter from a variety of people, British and American audiences included.  However, about half way through his act much of the laughter had died down.  Very few if any American’s in the crowd knew what he was talking about and the rest of the audience didn’t seem to like his foul language and immature manner.

Overall he was a funny character, but the combination of puzzling British jokes, crude and unusual stories, and unbearable heat made it very difficult to enjoy.  On the other hand, if he were to perform at a different venue, the circumstances would have been different and the experience would have been better.

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