Writer: Archie Henderson
Reviewing a show is obviously a subjective endeavour. It’s impossible not to include the personal preferences of the singular individual who went to see a show, and similarly it’s impossible for that individual not to note that, on this occasion, the auditorium is packed with avid Jazz Emu fans absolutely howling and cackling all evening while the reviewer themselves remains stony-faced throughout.
It’s not that Jazz Emu’s talents aren’t obvious, or that he hasn’t made great effort to put together a cohesive, tight one-hour. It’s just that he doesn’t seem especially funny.
Observational musical comedy has been saturated by some of the very best talent over the years – The Mighty Boosh, Flight of the Concords, Bill Bailey. It’s a very tricky artform, and there’s no real middle ground, so unfortunately if you’re not amazing, you’re kind of rubbish.
Eccentrically dressed in skin-tight flares and a loud print shirt, Jazz Emu is a world-famous, world-loved performer, or he was until he made a joke onstage about the Goblin community, only to discover a member of the audience was a goblin, and the whole world turned against him. Trying to win back his fame and fortune he sings various songs throughout the evening to show that he’s a reformed man, still with that same brilliance the world has grown to love, but so much wiser now.
The songs are skilfully written, and there’s no denying his instrumental excellence, swapping between busy guitar solos, funky bass lines, and what looks like an electric bassoon, with genuine virtuosity. Unfortunately, though, the comedy is very broad and a bit hacky: the punchline to the opening number ‘I’m In Control’, for example, simply sees him lose control in contrast to the lyrics: Singing ‘I’m serious’, his voice becomes very high-pitched through the monitor. During the next line, ‘I’m in the spotlight’, lo and behold the spotlight appears on the other side of the stage, and so on.
Another song points out the ridiculousness of the English language, and it’s cleverly written, rhyming incorrectly pronounced words to make the point. But it’s been done before a million times.
There’s clearly a lot of talent here, but whilst the performance is meticulously presented, it just lacks any originality or risk. To this reviewer, Jazz Emu is just broad comedy in quirky costume, though he has shown himself to be capable of much more. But perhaps he’s happy enough with 99% of the audience having a great time and one disgruntled reviewer.
Runs until 20 December 2022
2 Comments
Attended at the behest of a friend without knowing any of his work, so I can assure you not everyone was an avid Jazz Emu fan. But I was howling throughout.
A 2 star review for a “meticulously presented” performance packed with laughing punters and which is recieving 4 and 5 star reviews across the board is odd to say the least. Especially when the review describes his skillful writing, instrumental excellence and virtuosic performance.
Maybe this critic wanted to stand out from the larger publications heaping praise on him and calling him a “genius”.
This is genuinely the funniest and one of the most original shows I’ve ever seen.
I had never heard of him before either.
What star rating would you give it if you were the only one laughing and the rest of the audience sat stoney-faced?