Pat Burtscher has more charm than sense. He has qualities that make him incredibly likeable, however, so the result is that you become more warmed to him as a person, rather than his set.
The low-fi, low-budget light-show that opens the piece is great, and from there he moves onto his material; he has a tendency to take a joke or concept that is endemic in comedy and then take it to a different, stranger place. Most of the material comes back to a principle that underpins Burtscher’s philosophy – that bad things should happen to bad people – and he invigorates this with a fresh perspective. He is imaginative, and offers an offbeat and unusual look at the world with new eyes.
He has a good turn of phrase and his casual manner works really well with the more out there material, making us question whether it is really as patently ridiculous as it first seems. But unfortunately the evening never really takes off. He seems a bit forgetful and a bit nervous. Burtscher is aware of this: he keeps bringing it up, but is unable to do anything to combat the problem. He is driven to share his doubts, insecurities and moments of self-loathing, as so many comedians are. Sometimes his nerves drive the energy forward, but at other times he gets lost toward the end of a section and doesn’t get the laughs that the punch lines deserve. This is strange because he has a really great audience connection and seems to enjoy chatting with the crowd.
As a whole the set lacks structure and direction. If he could stitch the great parts more tightly together, and give the whole a through line, he has the potential to be a really funny and clever comic.