Review: Ross Noble
Enmore Theatre,
Sat 19 April, 2008
By Andrew P Street
The last time I saw Ross Noble it seemed like he was trying to do a “show”. You know, one of those things that comedians “write” that have “beginnings” and “endings” and, often, “middles”. And, frankly, it was a bit stilted. Where it took off was where all of Ross Noble’s shows take off: when he spirals off on one of his flights of comedic fancy, layering reference after reference to build to a comic crescendo.
Fortunately, this time around, that seemed to be the be all and end all: if an early reference to Filipino babies came back to him (perhaps deliberately) misheard as “albino babies”, and that’s the point at which the show came alive. And that’s no small task, given that Noble’s shows top the three-hour mark these days, complete with interval (not that it prevented people going to the bar, as Noble frequently noted).
Noble’s precarious logical leaps and superb memory for the people upon whom he has picked in the audience meant that the discovery of a podiatrist in the audience at the 8 minute mark would be the basis for an entire routine two hours later, with an albino babies punch line (possibly delivered as the Spanish entertainer Albino Babiez, who mysteriously appears when his name is said four times).
What was perhaps most impressive wasn’t the way Noble danced from subject to subject, but the steel in his voice when a heckler attempted to get a toehold. Make no mistake about it: that friendly Everyman demeanour he so winningly portrays might be genuine, but it doesn’t mean he can’t tear strips off an audience member when the need arises, whether it’s mocking their veganism or explaining the art of rhythm in punch line delivery. And if the final (prepared) routine seemed a bit forced, it’s only because the rest of the show seemed so joyously off-the-cuff.
It’s impossible to single out highlights when the entire show is a series of you-had-to-be-there moments, but the eleven year old with a monkey hand puppet was either one of the funniest chance audience members of all time or the most inspired plant of recent memory. Sure, in some ways it was just another Ross Noble show – but that’s hardly a bad thing.