Matador, you say? As in, red capes and bulls and Spanish people? For an hour? And it’s comedy?Thankfully, the matador pretence is dropped in the first ten minutes of Asher Treleaven’s set, timed pretty perfectly to when the joke was just beginning to get overused. Our (actually Australian) comedian then begins to talk about racism. This isn’t a racist set; this is anti-racist. It starts talking about various examples of racism and how frustrating they are, with plenty of jokes and impressions in between. The problem is that after an hour, race jokes, be they racist or anti-racist, become tired. Treleaven knows this, I think, since he started talking about racist sheep.This is an enjoyable set down at Pleasance, with plenty of back-and-forth cries of ¡Olé! from performer to audience to lighten the mood, but it isn’t fall-off-your-seat funny. In fact, often it’s just pleasant enough to grin at. What is a refreshing change is that this is a very likable comedian, not one who is irritating or seemingly egotistical. Worth a watch, certainly, but not the best thing you’ll see this Fringe.
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- By Paul Virides
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- 18th Aug 2011
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- ★★★
Reviews by Paul Virides
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