Joseph Morpurgo had been recommended by none other than the infamous, the genius, Daniel Kitson last year. Morpurgo also had a rather striking poster and the dramatically named Odessa as last year's show. I was intrigued.
As such, I thought I'd check his show out this year. I really didn't know what to expect and I didn't know much about him.
The stage is adorned with a large blanket folded around the perimeter of the stage and a chair and various props. The backdrop is a screen surrounded by dozens of old LP covers. On each chair was an odd looking quiz sheet. It promised to be a very interesting show.
My God, it was so much more.
Morpurgo has carefully spliced snippets of Desert Island Discs so that it sounds like he's the guest. Through the show he and Kirsty tensely discuss Morpurgo's various chosen Discs, and for each record he's created a spectacular sketch, from the slightly mad Joseph Cooper in his leaf-covered suit teaching the audience music to the smarmy lothario Stanley Clarke teaching an unwitting audience member how to woo the ladies.
It's a spectacular display of multimedia comedy, making great use of the projector for a range of visual gags and some tremendous musical tidbits (including a rap about golf!) all woven around the Desert Island Disc interview.
But this is also a show with heart and warmth - the emotions are slipped in carefully by Morpurgo and brilliantly, it doesn't feel cheesy or tacky, instead it's right, it fits in perfectly amongst the madness.
Writing this review three days after seeing it, I can confirm that I'm still dazzled by it, I still think about the sheer brilliance, bravado, tight writing and editing and the technological mastery Morpurgo displayed that night.
It's a perfect venue for his show - any smaller and the energy would dip, any bigger and the intimacy of the show would be lost, and the audience participation (oh there's plenty of it) would go.
This show is exceptional: it's so inventive and creative, it's so joyfully silly and fun and mad, but it's also heartfelt and brilliantly performed by Morpurgo.
The sheer breadth of jokes and the density of comedic ideas leaves you breathless; it's like the show's got ADHD, but it's still coherent and tight.
Few shows are so flawless and make such an impact.
After the show ended, for a brief moment, it was like life just wasn't worth living now that it had finished. But I continue, because the world needs to know about Joseph Morpurgo.
This has been one of the best shows I've ever seen at Edinburgh, and I've probably seen somewhere between 150 and 200 by now.
I look forward to seeing his future work.
Score: 10/10
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard
Dates: 9th-31st August (not 18th)
Time: 20:15
Price: £10.50 (£9) weekends, £8.50 (£7) weekday
No comments:
Post a Comment