Review – Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall and Pat Burtscher

These performers have terrible names for comedy, but luckily they know how to make an audience laugh with a solid hour of straight stand up.

Softly spoken Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall strikes a balance between endearing and awkward, such as when he’s showing us the power stance that he feels will change his success in life. His half, a combination of one liners and short anecdotes, was a smorgasbord of horrible puns and tragi-comedy, with a smattering of pathos-laden tales of life and love. He delighted the crowd with his penchant for the anti-climatic and his musings on dodgy bosses, the art of the orgasm, and what happens when a pick-up artist falls in love.

Pat Burtscher introduced chaos into his performance by letting small scraps of paper, foisted from his pockets, determine which joke we would next be presented with. Some seemed to be a surprise even to him. The practice became sort of mesmerising in and of itself as we watched him put the scraps back into his pockets, wondering if he’d just pulled out the same joke or another. Pat’s performance wavered between scolding audience members, depressive tales reflecting on suicide, then pondering about how long he’d been on stage. The unruly concoction was nonetheless amusing, and Pat seems to possess that bizarre quality of floating through life making people laugh incidentally.

I was left wanting a show with a little more structure – there was no explanation given about why these two were performing together. I wanted to know what relationship these two held, as a comedy duo of sorts. I wanted a story, or a through-line. But if you’re comfortable with anarchy and short bit of off-beat stand up, you’ve come to the right place. This affable and gregarious pair are a worthy inclusion in a healthy Fringe diet.

[For your interest, Alasdair and Pat also host the free, late night variety show Soul Bank – Ed.]