Nat’s What I Reckon, the locked-down cooking comedy sensation, is charming, approachable and utterly authentic in his latest showing at the Brisbane Comedy Festival.
'Hot Dogs Probably Aren't Real' is a show about life, anxiety, technology. . . And anxiety-inducing technology.
Nat’s What I Reckon goes off on a lot of tangents, and uses little pops of music and sound effects to illustrate stories. For many, this might be distracting, as he often forgets what he was talking about, relying on helpful audience members to bring him back on track. He himself highlights this – referring to other reviewers who have called his show a mess. But for Nat’s What I Reckon, it works. It is not a gimmick or affectation, this is how his mind works and it’s really lovely that he trusts his audience with so much of himself.
Nat looks tough – all piercings, long hair, leather and ripped black jeans. But his fans – and hopefully wider society – know that dressing this way does not mean an aggressive attitude to life. It seems, though, that others have not gotten the memo. In the show, he talks about fans coming up to him in the street, who punch him, say “good one” or something similar, and move on. Why do they have to punch him? Why not say something nice, without the accompanying physical violence? This speaks to our wider culture, which a man who dresses like Nat’s What I Reckon is in a unique position to counter, and then expose so many of the assumptions we make about men.
Similarly, Nat now requests sole use of a toilet when he performs. He explains that he’s not being a diva, but has had a few rough experiences in public toilets – where the open urination troughs are enough to give anyone pause. He recounts one story of when a group of fans tackled him to the floor next to the urinal to take a selfie with him. Later, when the photo was blurry, they called out from the audience to ask for another. All of which begs the question, who would be a celebrity these days?
Nat gets his own back however, when going through some choice comments from his social media feed. The use of photos throughout the show works well, as demonstrated by photos of urinals, and then de-identified screenshots of the whacky stuff he gets to trawl through each day on his socials. While the comments might be cruel, Nat isn’t. . . More bemused at what makes people take the time to comment on people’s work. It is a great way to wrap up the show.
Nat’s What I Reckon: 'Hot Dogs Probably Aren’t Real' is a wonderful, surprising and hilarious show.
