Brett Johnson’s
Brett Johnson is a your FUNNIEST friend
Brett Johnson is a your FUNNIEST friend. The guy that after a party everyone is like “whose he? Invite him next time!” He has fantastic physicality and hits the right notes in his vocal delivery. Yet there is something about this performance that is much less comedy-show and much more witty raconteuring at a cocktail night with mates. This is more to some peoples' taste and less to others at a Fringe show. By half way through I was finding it a little bit emotionally and comically one-note. Enjoyable for sure but I wasn’t certain if I was waiting for a big emotional punch or a fall-off-my-seat punchline. I would have been happy with either.
I did feel at times like I had caught the story half way through. The one-hour constraints of a Fringe show can be hard to manage, but I would have taken a little more exposition of his religious background and of the many characters in his story. I think it would have added more weight to the ending and a stronger narrative would have been easier to emotionally follow.
Johnson does a great trade in funny off-the-point comments, little asides about the Avengers or KFC or whatnot. I would urge him to deliver them with more confidence. He seemed to rush through them, which smothered some of the laughs. More oomph and I reckon they would have hit that much harder.
On a couple of technical points, Johnson has a medium-heavy American accent. That combined with a slightly echoing mic and exceptionally fast delivery made it hard to get every single word. Also there is a fairly liberal smattering of American references that a British audience just won’t understand.
Johnson is a charming comic and the nature of his performance lends itself to only improve over the coming weeks. With that in mind – and a pay-what-you-want pricing structure – this is definitely worth a look-see if you find yourself seeking an interesting, relaxing hour with a great storyteller.
