Any show at the Fringe that has an audience carries an inherent risk – that said audience will contain drunks, crazy people or some slurred combination of both. With the Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolf III, that risk is doubled because the dear Reverend is himself a crazy drunk.Jim Muir, the Reverend’s creator, has been working with the character since 2003, but there’s no sense of staleness about this brand-new afternoon chatshow. Steppenwolf could easily fill a show entirely alone, but condensing his brand of humour prevents it from being tired or stretched out.
With guest Glenn Wool joining in with the rambling, randomised fun on stage it was impossible not to be drawn into the wonderfully excessive world of the Reverend Obadiah. Most men of the cloth don’t mix their holy water with Buckfast, but then again, the Rev is not your average country vicar. His act is a tour de force in political incorrectness, and when blended with a brilliant sense of timing, it proves to be devilishly funny.
With guests less acquainted with Steppenwolfe’s manner a show like this could dry up pretty quickly; on that measure we were lucky to have Wool, a sharply acerbic comic in his own right, as a guest. Wool and Steppenwolfe complemented each other perfectly as comedians in the same showbiz vein, and together provided an uproarious and hilarious show throughout.
The Reverend stays utterly in character for the duration of his show and dealt with hecklers in the best way possible – getting down into the gutter and heckling right back. I don’t know of any other Fringe shows that would supply rowdy audience members with half a bottle of Buckfast, but this is the one show which can do so and laugh it off as an improvised gag. In fact, most of the jokes spouting from the volcanic preacher came when he deigned to engage with his less-than-sober audience. It’s a mark of quality from this hilariously funny hellfire holy man that shows just how good a performer he is.
