Review – Heath Franklin’s Chopper: Big F**ken Late Show
Comedian Heath Franklin’s hilarious parody of crime heavyweight Chopper Read is a classic example of Aussie humour at its best: Australian’s being able to take the piss out of being Australian. Chopper’s Big F**ken Late Show is outrageous, rude, slightly offensive but totally loveable. Admittedly, this was not my first time seeing Heath Franklin’s Chopper live. Nevertheless, I was certainly not disappointed.
Chopper points the finger at everything that is weird, wonderful and down right ridiculous about Australian culture. His blunt, no-bullshit attitude has us belly laughing along at our own ridiculousness while we’re nodding our head in agreement thinking, “it’s so true”.
It’s clear that old “uncle Chop Chop” is there for his audience, with audience interaction a key part of Chopper’s comedy. Heath Franklin has a fair talent for taking obscure heckles and audience participation in any form and letting it shape the show, all while reacting in character. This show gives live comedy the spontaneity audiences crave.
Personally, I’m all about live interaction and clever audience participation. But if it’s not your thing and you’d rather appreciate from afar, I advise to sit yourself towards the back. No one is safe from Chopper. He’s very observant and he’s likely to go off a tangent and strike up a conversation with anyone in the first few rows who catches his eye.
In our case, we had a not so enthusiastic audience member who was reluctant when she was pulled up on stage and asked to impersonate Chopper. Goodheartedly, Chopper didn’t pursue it too far but made sure he continued to reference her throughout the rest of the show, which was a source of great comedy. No one wants a scary audience participation experience, but Chopper handles his audience with tact while still being the rough, cynical and ridiculous character he is.
In this show, Chopper acts as the MC and brings out three different guest comedians every night. The support acts for the most part were a great addition to spice up the show. They provided us with a few different styles of comedy so that when Chopper’s blunt, direct, quick-wit returns, we appreciate him all the more. We had the pleasure of seeing the hilarious Dave Callan, so it was a double whammy of a night. Harley Breen was refreshingly honest with that Aussie charm similar to Chopper’s and American comedian Adrienne Truscott offends and shocks with her incessant rape jokes. This set up for a show was refreshing and surprising to make it a well-rounded night of comedy. If you’re out and about late on a Friday or Saturday night, Chopper is perfect late night viewing and well worth a watch. Head along, grab a beer and enjoy the antics.
Chopper’s Big F**ken Late Show is showing Fridays and Saturdays only until April 19th.
