Pic: © Steve Ullathorne
Once long ago comedy was hailed as the new rock ‘n’ roll. When Edward Aczel is involved it becomes the new accountancy law.
His monotone delivery, lack of stage presence,an inability to hold eye contact, a strict adherence to notes, some shockingly bad use of presentation software – it’s all fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
With Aczel you’re in the sphere of what is commonly called anti-comedy, where common tropes and expectations of stand-up are reversed or simply entirely ignored.
For that reason it can be something of an acquired taste, and in current form Aczel is a rare 18-year-old Islay malt whisky, even if he looks like he’s more a bottle of MD 20/20.
Standing slumped at the front of the stage, he indecisively asks whether he should keep his phone on and whether he should wear a ridiculous Smurfs hat (the answer to the latter question is just as you’d expect), and tells us Edward Aczel Doesn’t Exist is a “comedic ballet”. (If so it’s one that’s being performed by a clod-footed polar bear.)
The theme of his show involves proving to media executives and the like that he’s still a viable proposition. As it turns out there’s none of his intended audience actually in, but that still doesn’t stop him listing his backstage demands (watch out if you’re a seven-week-old kitten), attempting to adlib with the deftness of a tap-dancer who’s been caught in quicksand, and then hosting a horrific multimedia presentation that culminates in him offering terrible ideas for TV shows like an atrociously antisocial Alan Partridge. Plus for anyone who’d like to make it in the Fringe next year, there’s a lesson in the “black arts” of comedy.
The beauty in Aczel’s show is all in the details – the little grammatical slip-ups, moments of uncomfortable hesitation, a look at to the crowd for a flicker of recognition when none exists. The comedian is quite simply brilliant at doing all the things you should really never do during a comedy show, and somehow having the whole audience in stitches. If you appreciate the intricacies of what makes people laugh, then this is one show you simply must see.
(And boy, that guy can adlib.)
- Edward Aczel Doesn’t Exist is on at 7.20pm at Underbelly until August 28
