Review – Tim Fitzhigham: The Gambler

Fitzhigham explodes on to the stage with the manic energy we’ve come to expect from British comedy. In this show though, there’s not a lot of jokes. This has more of a storytelling format about crazy things Fitzhigham got up to back home and then he replays all the highlights on a video screen.

He is more of an adventurer than a comedian and the stories are a fascinating account of a pursuit of the life less ordinary. But he won’t stop shouting at you about it and that’s a little tiring.

The show draws a lot of similarity with the work of Dave Gorman, who likewise filmed himself on interesting quests & then presented the footage to a TV audience and called it comedy. While the stories are fascinating, they’re really only occassionally ha-ha funny are are better seen as light entertainment compared to more strightforward stand-up. Fitzhigham’s show may improve once his TV series covering a lot of the similar material has made it’s way to Australian screens. Within a convenient television studio, Fitzhigham could utilise a neat presenter’s set, seamlessly cut to the video footage & speak politely into a well balanced mic-line.

Outside the TV format, Fitzhigham’s trying to shout over the din of drunk mobs, passing sirens & the incessant fringe spruikers, fiddling with powerpoint on a shaky stage inside a tent. Fitzhigham has a great story to tell, but probably not through this live medium.