Crazy, zany, eclectic, and all over the shop, Ross Noble takes audiences on a wild Lime Scooter ride through his brain in his new show, 'Humournoid'.
Opening with a plea to audiences to TURN OFF THEIR MOBILE PHONES or suffer the consequences, Ross emerges from a two-storey paper mache sculpture of his own head, cut in half with flashing synapses exposed. It is quite the entrance. And it is only the beginning.
For those who enjoy linear stories with a beginning, a middle and an end, this is not a show for you. One of Ross’ favourite refrains seems to be, “hold that thought, I’ll cycle back!” He barely completes a single anecdote before something else captures his attention, and away he goes at lightning speed. It is dazzling to watch, but can be a bit exhausting to hold all the threads in your mind, ready to be picked up later.
He clearly adapts each show to his audience, which is really appreciated. He had a whole bit about the lion statues in front of Brisbane City Hall (the performance venue), had a series of jokes about the Gold Coast when an audience member was from there, and went off on another tangent about our new Lime inner-city electric scooters. It helps with audience bonding to show that you care enough to write material just for them. The sheer amount of good-natured audience interaction was really great too, it made a big show seem intimate.
A few jokes around Cardinal Pell, Micheal Jackson’s chimp, and whether or not we’re all racists deep down had the audience tittering nervously, but the only real miss was a bit on gender fluidity. It was the only time that it wasn’t clear if Ross was poking fun at non-binary people, or at his inability to adapt to modern norms. The audience wasn’t having it, and to Ross’ credit, he really accurately read the mood of the room. He appears to be a very self-aware comic, in addition to being quick-witted and almost bursting with ideas.
