Review – Cameron James & Jared Jekyll: Paradise
Prepare yourselves for a crazy ride as Cameron James and Jared Jekyll take you on their bizarre and hilariously ridiculous journey to the Paradise Island Comedy Festival. The high energy pair – in their Hawaiian shirts, hipster leopard shorts and skinny jeans – begin on a high and don’t ever come down in a show that is a “little music, a little comedy, a little hip-hop”. Starting with a loop-box, a talent for beat boxing, guitar playing, and surprisingly good vocals, the first song, “Addiction” is not only funny, but musically interesting, as the boys reveal their addictions from alcohol and cigarettes to mime.
The story then begins and James and Jeckyll take us back to their teenage years and their invitation by the mysterious Mr Death (pronounced Deeth) to perform at his luxurious and mysterious private island. When the car they’re driving putters to a stop and they find themselves in the open and alone, we know that things are going to go downhill fast. It is an ooky-spooky Scooby-Doo meets Mighty Boosh tale and Jeckyll and James entertain all the way. There are cannibal tribes, and glowing skulls, ghost pregnancies and delicious pear flan. It is ridiculous but clever comedy, where anything can, and will, happen.
It was a small audience at a late hour, owing to delays caused by the Adelaide Clipsal, but the guys did not let this deter them. There was a great energy in the small Piglet tent, and the guys successfully animated the scattered crowd. They also dealt very well with late-coming drunk, phone-call taking, smack-talking idiots in the back, who missed all hints at irony in James and Jeckyll’s retorts, which I applaud them for. It was a great show, and they deserved a better audience.
