Meet
If someone is willing to wax their face each night in the pursuit of jokes, then I would argue they are worth a chance.
Bouncing (quite literally) onto the stage in a semi-inflated human-sized balloon, McQueen is clearly a confident performer, despite the excruciatingly honest comments coming from his mother, who welcomes him on with a fairly depressing Skype conversation about his lack of future career prospects.
A lot of Luke’s humour comes from self-depreciation. Whilst it is vital to be able to laugh at yourself, I would urge him to have more confidence in his pre-planned material. When delivered with conviction his witty and risqué sense of humour tittered smoothly around the walls. Self-criticism can soon become somewhat repetitive.
As with many stand-ups, a lot of Luke’s material is about his life and where he hopes to end up. He dreams of his own TV show, and he is in luck: he has been called for an important meeting with the big bosses who would make it happen should the hoped decision be made. The next day he is a steward for the Guinness World Record attempt for the most people simultaneously bounding on miniature trampolines, or as it is otherwise known: the highs and lows of living the celebrity lifestyle.
As the set progressed, it appeared that there was very little related material to the tape on his forehead, or the lack of movement associated with it which I had anticipated to be central to the theme. I wonder, therefore, why it was relevant. On the one hand it is a quirk for promotional material, with its uniqueness drawing crowds in simply from curiosity. On the other hand, it seems redundant, and I struggled to find his reason to include it at all (other than perhaps playing off the humorous similarity to Tape Face).
Nonetheless, Luke McQueen is a likeable entertainer, and is willing to share a lot with you for your love (I am of course referring to the X-Rated video: to say more than that would be too satisfying). If you are looking for alternative comedy, I would struggle to think of anything more avant-garde than adhesive tape; and if someone is willing to wax their face each night in the pursuit of jokes, then I would argue they are worth a chance.
