Chris Turner returns to The Adelaide Fringe with a new show on why you shouldn’t quit your daydream.
It’s the age-old question we were often asked, or perhaps asked ourselves as kids maturing into our teen years: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Chris Turner has our inner-children pondering that very question, quite literally, as it’s presented to the crowd and worked into the show.
A comedian. A rockstar. A rapper.
Everything young Chris ever dreamed of and more. We’re taken through a PowerPoint-like presentation in fitting early Microsoft style of images of Chris’ own dreams, as he takes us on a journey of his life through song with the world premiere of his show, ‘Childish’.
Having claimed to have worn shoulder pads since he was a sperm, this '80s kid (only just scraping in on September 12, 1989 to be exact), embraces a clever soundtrack of freestyle rap accompanied by early synth sounds on an effects pedal, moving effortlessly through the decades alongside a drummer and pianist. Donning the most outrageous outfits from a not-so-sticky moustache and beret to a naughty surprise at the end of the show, he transforms into many characters including ‘cool’ French DJ, Christoph, with a polka beat and piano accordion transporting us directly into the romantic setting of Paris to later in the show strumming twang power chords on an electric guitar taking us out to the country with a personal love song.
Chris sings the story about having ‘no plans’, with quirky piano licks and drum rolls following the lyrics. It is here you really get a sense of Chris’ vivid imagination and the ease in which he is able to convey that to his audience. A real gift to be able to unlock the depths of his own playful imagination and that of the crowd simultaneously.
This show is for anyone who ever followed their dreams. . . Or didn’t. It is about the power of encouragement through words for achieving the wildest of fantasies, and how integral that can be to someone’s life path. He speaks endearingly of the support of his father, as well as his own experiences as a father with his two-year-old daughter, Ada. He speaks about how important it is to be an example for her and how it is possible to defy all odds in life to achieve whatever you desire. His wife, Alice Winn, American novelist and screenwriter who has made it to Wikipedia page status, is one of his biggest inspirations in life, and the love he feels for her and pride in what she’s achieved makes the entire room feel a bit warm!
'Childish' communicates a compelling message of how inspiration manifests and magnifies, as the show closes in on the most human of emotions with a focus on the aspiration to be anything you ever wished you could be, and how the sky really is the limit.
