one4review | On 21, Aug 2022

Richard brown starts his set with a satire of the stereotypical late-night American comedy, the sort that includes ‘jokes’ in the format of ‘mention rural area, insert generic inbred comment’ which I also find boring at best, and so while being extremely niche, this show was also right up my street.

Mr Brown describes himself as having ‘a kind heart and a fucked-up sense of humour’. He does present – in his words – some pretty weird and niche comedy, but he did some admin before the show proper and told us about that, and gave permission to leave if we didn’t feel comfortable. Some folk did and that was okay. Leave us to our weird in peace!

This is a show full of contradictions. We spent (a short) time watching videos of animals turning on their handlers, which is difficult. But this show also felt safe – leaving was fine, no audient was harassed. And his comedy is off-beat, niche, dark. For the right audience – and we were small but loving it – it’s gold.

I have previously seen Mr Brown, and this show is displays a refining and maturation of his comic sensibilities and performance skills. He retains his conversational tone, cadence and prosody, bringing the audience into his ambit and making the show feel like we’re part of it. He’s also kept the glimpses behind the curtain, explaining the structure of things that particularly please him, and that also brings us in, and gives the show depth.

Mr Brown is a warm and engaging performer delivering some dark and at times bleak comedy, but if you’re of an open mind, or you know you like that sort of thing, dive in.

Reviewed by Laura

Monkey Barrel Studio
21:35