The all-singing, all-beatboxing, all-microphone-stand-shakin' Reggie Watts continues to confuse in style on his 'Hello Humans' tour.
Well, I'll be honest with you. It's no mean feat trying to come up with words to describe a Reggie Watts show. Other than it was a mind-bogglingly, brilliant affair and if you haven't already witnessed this genre-defying master of the absurdist-comedic form live, you should.
It at first seemed a little odd to be at a sit-down Tivoli gig, but the seating suits the Sunday evening (12th October) comedy vibe — even if Watts' alternative style doesn't exactly scream ‘relaxing’.
Sydney comedian and writer, Genevieve Fricker, opened the night with her excellent brand of sombre wit. Fricker's melange of music and an amiable, yet self-deprecating style had the crowd in stitches, especially her existentialist deconstruction of the '90s "Marge, the rains're 'ere" McCain frozen-corn ad in song. She is definitely a performer on the rise.
Genevieve Fricker Image © Lachlan DouglasFollowing a short break, the lights dim again briefly before Watts takes the stage and launches into a nonsensical monologue in his trademark "verbose British professor" voice.
A self-described Anglophile, Watts is so convincing in this persona it sometimes feels like this is the real him and that his actual American voice is a character. But it's all part of Watts' appeal: you never know what he's going to do — or who he's going to be — next. The Seattle-based humourist then proceeds to float seamlessly between creating songs entirely from beatboxing loops and his surrealist talking-head routines, all improvised, and which traverse such topics as Vegemite, Australian fauna and the universe.
Image © Lachlan DouglasI've also never seen so much gasp-y guffawing generated from merely shaking a microphone stand (and even creating a song out of the noises it makes) or simply drinking a Tooheys New tinnie in a cheesy, product-placement fashion. But it all works somehow.
Never one to aloofly alienate his audience, Watts maintained a warm, likeable stage presence even at his most bamboozling. And unlike many international performers who unconvincingly praise the town they're performing in, Watts clearly seems to have a genuine affinity with our fair city — even citing local legends The Go-Betweens as a musical favourite. This then led to hilarious, mock-ignorant shout-outs to "upcoming acts" Silverchair and Frente.
Image © Lachlan DouglasIf there was any criticism to be had it's that Watts could benefit from further exploring his crazy monologues and one-liners. As eclectic and industrious a musician and singer as he is, it's his stream-of-consciousness waffling that got the bigger laughs from this reviewer. But that's just nitpickery, really.
The obligatory encore closed with Watts clambering through the crowd — and even up to the mezzanine — and engaging in rapid-fire, faux-shallow conversation with just about every member of the audience.
Image © Lachlan DouglasWhile probably not to all tastes, and not for fans of traditional stand-up, Reggie Watts created easily the silliest, Sunday night out in a long time — for all the right reasons.
