Oliver Clark likes to confound expectations. Consistent with the show’s misleading title - he is in fact performing for the duration of the Comedy Festival - Clark meanders through a range of disconnected anecdotes, puns and awkward moments without giving the audience a clue as to where it’s all leading. The answer is nowhere. But that’s alright, for Clark will keep your belly aflutter with his warped take on life’s most ordinary matter till the show’s end. Dressed in a three piece blue velvet suit, Clark gallops onto the stage like a 70s game show host, complete with a toothy smile and a gag about kissing his dentist. The joke has no real punch line, which is of course the point for Clark. This is just an example of how he relies as much on the awkwardness in the room for laughs as he does his own material. A safe path - some may say - to play on the tension when a joke falls flat. But lucky for Clark, his delightful physical comedy usually picks up the mood; ‘playing’ a baguette to a sultry saxophone track, “the roll he was born to play,” is certainly a highlight.
Clark is not without musical talent, however, as he croons into the mic with smooth Elvis tones and riffs away on his Epiphone. Exploring the many versions of Fly Me to the Moon, from Astrud Gilberto to Tony Bennett, is yet another joke that doesn’t really go anywhere. Who would have thought that listening to a bunch of comedic attempts without direction or purpose would be humorous in itself? For the most part Clark manages to pull it off, yet a thematically structured show with some more of his genuinely funny witticisms dotted throughout would surely lob this comedian into the spotlight where he belongs.
Portable Content
For One Night Only
Oliver Clark
Venue: Forum Theatre | Cnr Flinders & Russell Sts, Melbourne
Dates: 20th Mar - 13th Apr
Times: Tue-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 7.15pm (no show Thu 27 Mar)
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: Full $20, Conc $17
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 & at the door