Review – Alex Williamson: Dumb Things I’ve Done

As I stood with the other patrons waiting for the audience of the previous show to vacate the theatre, I looked over an old cabinet containing the autumn work of Louie MacNeice and David Wiltshire it was then that a very pale man vomited on his own feet not far from me. I was now ready for Alex Williamson.

I was apprehensive as I gazed over the crowd, as they were the demographic Alex pokes fun at in his very funny internet clips. The smoky purple lit stage contained 3 mics, guitar and a laptop with projector screen hung on the back wall. The show started, and after introducing himself Alex made a joke on his hometown of Adelaide about the abundance of children buried in shallow graves in public parks. I was won over already.

My fear of the comedian slamming his target audience was settled, like all good comedians, Alex made himself and his experiences the butt of the jokes. Allowing him to rip on what he described as the ‘shit c*nts’ in the audience because he too was a self proclaimed ‘shit c*nt’.

Alex used his limited guitar skills to break the show up with spontaneous songs that were both refreshing and funny. He used the laptop and projector to explore and comment on his well established social media presence which was one of my favourite parts of the show. The man attracts a lot of attention, strange attention.

The show certainly did not lack pace, this however meant I could not hear the start of some of his next lines as people were still laughing from the previous slap to the ol’ funny bone. The show was everything I expected, politically incorrect, bold, shocking and very funny. If you’re a fan of comedians like Jim Jefferies then this show is for you.

I asked the young comedian post-performance how he would describe the show – he said “dark and edgy”, and there certainly is no denying that.