Photo - Lynton CrabbEddie Perfect has had a diverse career in recent years, appearing in the widely touring musical Keating!, starring in the title role of his self-penned show Shane Warne The Musical, headlining the cast of Michael Kantor’s excellent Malthouse/Victorian Opera production of The Threepenny Opera, and working on television as part of the ensemble show Offspring, of which he speaks somewhat wryly in this, apparently his first solo comedy show since Drink Pepsi, Bitch! in the mid ‘noughties.
This is all essentially a long-winded way of prefacing that unless you’re a long-standing Eddie Perfect fan, there’s a fair chance you may have somewhat differing expectations of what you’re in for with this musical stand-up show. Perfect himself makes light of this after his first vitriolic song replete with bestiality jokes, commenting “I’m guessing there’s some Offspring fans in the audience who are wondering ‘what the fuck is going on?!’ Yeah, well, it’s about to get weird!”
I wouldn’t exactly say it was weird, but after having seen toned-down hints of Perfect’s satirical style in Shane Warne and his presumably self-written songs on Offspring, one clearly gets the sense that here he is pulling out all the stops – Eddie Perfect Uncensored, if you will. His material isn’t inordinately offensive, mind you, especially for a show that starts at midnight in an adults-only venue, although just how outrageous you find it will ultimately be fairly subjective.
Perfect’s well-articulated if not all that comprehensively explored theme for Misanthropology is that, despite the amazing advancements of human evolution, mankind as it stands today is not all it’s cracked up to be. With this overview Perfect essentially gives himself license to mock and tear down people and attitudes that give him the shits. Yet despite this broadly stated theme, it appears the common thread is, if anything, more specifically about the pretensions and moral inadequacies of the self-righteous and wealthy.
Using a fairly stable formula of high-energy satirical songs which he segues between with stand-up comedy interludes, Perfect launches salvos at rich white people’s condescending veneration of the “noble savage”, or the hypocrisy of faux-environmentalists who take up cycling and holiday in eco-lodges as status symbols. His material is undeniably funny, with witty, often scatological lyrics bolstered by a deliberately selfconscious and highly theatrical delivery, mugging furiously as he belts out his songs. Every inch the performer, Perfect elevates some of these more humdrum topics with his not inconsiderable verve and charisma, but he really starts to shine when we turn to some of his more biting and risqué subject matter.
One song, “Daddy’s Tits” lampoons an anonymous real case of a wealthy man buying his daughter breast implants as a 21st birthday present, highlighting all the inherently creepy if not outright incestuous overtones of such an act. Another number quite savagely tears into the controversy over Kerri-Anne Kennerly’s comments regarding some Collingwood footballers facing rape allegations, with Perfect singing in the persona of Kennerly espousing that “No” very frequently means “Yes”. Evidently Perfect’s preferred technique is to take on the role of the character at the heart of each topic and perform “their” songs in the first person, taking their venality, arrogance or self-delusion onto himself. It works well, largely sidestepping the risk that many comedians run of appearing as self-righteous as the targets of their derision.
But the most delicious satirical mojo came in the final song before the curtain-call, in what might potentially be a gamble depending on the precise demographic of his audience. Referencing his theatre roots and unleashing an apparent wellspring of loathing for long-form theatre in general and the work of Barrie Kosky in particular, Perfect launches into an appropriately epic caricature of the creative process behind the type of five-plus hour theatrical marathons that he finds utterly pretentious. Spoofing with great gusto the types of shows that often get staged at these very Festivals, Perfect unleashes a very incisive satirical portrait of his view of self-indulgent theatre at its most pretentious that is delightfully on the money even, one might warrant, for Kosky’s staunchest defenders. It was such a high note to go out on that it was almost a shame when Perfect returned, sans band, for the encore with an uncharacteristically earnest piano solo that returned to his stated theme of human arrogance and abuse of nature which, although seemingly heartfelt, seemed maudlin and too at odds with the raucously sardonic show that had preceded it.
All in all, Eddie Perfect in Misanthropology is an extremely fun, occasionally provocative and unfailingly hilarious romp that showcases a talented comedic singer-songwriter doing what he does best.
Sydney Festival 2011
Misanthropology
Eddie Perfect
Director Craig Ilott
Venue: The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park
Previews: January 9, 11, 12 at midnight
Dates: January 13-16, 18-23, 25-30 at midnight
Duration: 1hr 10mins, no interval
Tickets: $30/$25
Bookings: Sydney Festival 1300 668 812 | Ticketmaster 1300 723 038