Review – On Like Barrington
Charles Barrington, star of stage and screen, is a household name when it comes to acting, so I’m sure you’re already familiar with his work. For those who’ve been living under a rock, this extremely famous thespian has taken a short break from his absolutely not fictional acting career to do a spot of stand-up for us at the Tuxedo Cat. As you do.
Charles Barrington is quite deliberately not your typical stand-up act. His strange, rambling style (in an accent that originates somewhere in the UK, probably) has alienated some critics – he opens the show with a few particularly scathing quotes from reviewers, which sets the vaguely postmodern tone for the rest of the evening. And of the things he claims to be (actor, writer, director, producer, beekeeper, jam enthusiast…) comedian is not among them.
He’s a great one regardless. The man can make a pause as funny as a punchline, and his writing is extremely witty (as carefully as he disguises it with his hilariously stumbling, off-kilter delivery). The show is impossible to predict – from rambling, bizarre anecdotes about his stage career, to an interrogation of the audience re: jam, to an effortlessly clever Shakespearean rap, he keeps his audience guessing.
Take a chance on Charles Barrington. This unconventional, bizarre act is a huge amount of fun.
