Review – Asher Treleaven: Bad Dandy

Asher Treleaven’s 2013 MICF show is called Bad Dandy, and it’s without a doubt one of the best value shows in a smaller venue throughout the whole festival.

The gig itself is kind of meta journey through the comedy show experience itself, diverting out into deliberately controversial topics in an unprecedentedly cool way – with a whole lot of action thrown in.

Treleaven is a performer who knows how to use the whole stage, and make use of his physicality to keep everyone’s eyes glued to the stage. Without giving too much away, there’s even the odd musical interlude. He also does audience interaction right – so it’s not just a recital.

The man himself looks kind of like a sexy Steve Buscemi, with a bit of a vintage vibe to his dress sense – possibly part of the inspiration for the title of the show.

What I most liked about Bad Dandy was that there were no cheap shots – I was laughing the whole time and I didn’t feel excluded, or guilty, or stupid, and I didn’t have to think too hard about whether something was PC or not – because it often wasn’t, but in the best possible way.

At the start of the show, he described the upcoming set as “intellectual, socially responsible humour… plus cock jokes”, so if that’s your jam, definitely head along and see Bad Dandy.