Have you ever wondered what your hands think about your feet? Wonder no more. Enter Ellen Turnill Montoya as Mr. Handsome, a human-sized hand. The disgust for footsies, with their unwarranted fame and fetishists, apparent. The repulsion supreme. The stage is set.
Things seem surreal and the crowd is quickly sucked in. A warning is needed as: Turnill Montoya’s handsuit-clad, vibrating buttocks descend upon the audience for applause. Clap her on the back, or the bottom, is the wordless, but certain command. It is like a glorious fever dream; something everyone here will be asking, “did that happen?” as a more mundane world is thrust upon us tomorrow morning.
The audience soon join Mr. Handsome in learning how to be hand models. The set-up of this could come a little earlier, but once we know the game, we’re engrossed. We examine our own digits daintily as he surveys the audience for the most phwoar-worthy pinkies. We beg of you – who wouldn’t want their fingers to take a turn to strut on a tiny catwalk? Hard work results in handsome rewards for Turnill Montoya – we just love her. She has us eating out of her enormous, supersized palm.
Turnill Montoya must have considered every single thing to do with hands in the creation of this show. She is an absolute powerhouse of energy – the amount squeezed into an hour is seriously impressive. The joy is infectious. From moisturising cream and nail polish, to paper cuts and hands-raised raving. This arm-ending appendage is not afraid of a hard day’s hand job. Could a little editing take place? Just the teeniest bit, perhaps. Handily for Turnill Montoya, we’re so enchanted, we barely notice.
With so many good ideas, it’s easy to see why editing would be a wrist-wrenching task. We wouldn’t want to be the ones to choose. Amidst the most powerful bits, there’s a knowing point to the devastation that AI and digital technology causes creatives and artists. It is as beautifully unexpected as it is moving. Turnill Montoya should be commended for tackling real issues amidst her clown’s play.
Mr. Handsome is a most deserving winner of the Luke Rollason Memorial Bursary, an accolade awarded by the clown himself, who is not-yet-dead. The best way this reviewer can describe this performance is thus: many shows make you laugh on the surface. With this one, there’s real belly laughs at play here. The ones where you just can’t stop laughing. Hooray!
The sheer ingenuity, intelligence and spirit of invention in this show means it deserves top marks all-round. A hearty high-five for Mr. Handsome, we think you’re ruddy great.
Turnill Montoya is alternative comedy’s next top star.
Reviewed on 1st June
