Review – A Case Study
“Lucky for me, you don’t need a qualification to be a comedian,” a man in a golf cap tells the audience while shuffling his feet and turning pink under the lights. It is a joke, but a potentially cringe-worthy one when you are an unknown name performing in front of eight people. The beauty of Fringe is that anybody can register a show, but the sheer number of artists competing for audience attention means low-profile performers like Casey Talbot may struggle to attract a crowd.
That is a shame, because A Case Study was one of the more hilarious shows I’ve seen. The show is based on Casey’s life experiences, from being a perpetually single dork working at Woolies to marrying a hot doctor. Casey is immune to awkwardness; he’s the kind of bloke who keeps digging so far into a hole that when he finally ploughs through to the other side you are helplessly laughing. He is the best man you are silently willing to stop speaking before he ruins the wedding, crossed with the buddy you want to cheer on.
Given his show title, I thought Casey could have better linked his meandering stories to the ‘science’ of becoming a comedian. Indeed, Casey has a way to go as a performer: he riffs on audience interaction then gets too distracted to remember his point, goes on tangents that lead nowhere and over-explains jokes. Yet, somehow, his fluffs make the show even funnier. “Oh dear, why did I wait until I paid money to be in a festival before doing a badum-ching joke that I’d never practised?” Casey asks mournfully at one point while the audience is groaning at a pun. The calculated misstep may be a common way for self-deprecating comedians to draw some laughs, but you get the feeling that in Casey’s show we are truly wandering into unrehearsed territory. Despite my fears for the worst, Casey managed to capably steer the show.
Casey does not have a large media budget or a knack for smooth segues, but for the cost of a couple of beers you could do worse than take a chance on this guy. Whatever his flaws, I left A Case Study with a huge smile on my face.
