Edward Aczel, Soho Theatre - comedy review

In anti-comedian Aczel's latest gag-free gambit, his skits and routines were so bad they were brilliant
13 November 2013

There is a problem with Edward Aczel's latest show, Edward Aczel: Lives in a Meaningless Shed, which nobody could have predicted. The comedian who has made his name by being an "anti-comedian" specialising in mumbled digressions and oblique non-sequiturs is guilty of exhibiting signs of creeping professionalism.

From the opening grandiose classical-soundtracked video featuring our hero romping over a hilltop that is worthy of early Ken Russell to a snatch of screen trickery in which he magically duets with Gladys Knight, the erstwhile Aylesbury marketing man appears to be getting his act together.

Until one notices that his harmonising with the soul superstar is not even in the same postcode and normal scattershot service is resumed.

This gag-free gambit is a difficult balance to pull off. The challenge is to make one's audience laugh frequently without actually telling conventional jokes. Aczel manages this with baffling banter about ear infections, feeble flip chart graphs and some astonishingly awful satirical one-liners.

The drawback, however, is the lack of pace. While the soft-spoken performer, complete with his bleak "glass third full" outlook, is the master of the awkward well-timed lull, there were skits and routines here that went nowhere infuriatingly slowly.

There is certainly a role for Aczel's anti-comedy as a refreshing antidote to the conveyor belt predictability of Live at the Apollo's identikit stand-ups. But while the best moments tonight were so bad they were brilliant, there were a few too many moments that were just plain bad.

Until Nov 16, 0207 478 0100, sohotheatre.com

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