Laziness and Stuff provides a space within which Carey Marx can comfortably cocoon himself and allow his mind to wander off on lethargic tandems. This is not to say his material is in itself lazy or tired - far from it.Though he evinces a largely vacant, detached look, Marx is evidently a clever man. You imagine his mind at work in perpetual introspection, trying to make sense of all his thoughts and all his material buzzing around his head, occasionally dipping in and proffering something to the audience, of which not a single member withholds their approval.Invariably at his best when recounting his travels, Marx points out the absurd where we, the mere public, only see mundane minutiae. This is the paragon of observational comedy and the audience are engrossed in his thoughts on lift operators, a prison hotel that warns you when you’re safe, and the folly of using binoculars atop the world’s tallest building. Marx is incisive, witty and right from the start of the show he forms a strong rapport with the audience and sets a very high-bar. A bar that his material on the human body falls a little short of.Discussions on male and female genitalia - subjects usually considered a little crass - use up a disproportionate amount of his set time. However, he does keep the material on the right side of crude and within the remit of his title, taking to task those men who refuse to blame their own laziness for the difficulty of discovering certain female pleasure spots, and the natural, though little-known, phenomena of breathing testicles. At times Marx’s glazed-over expression and deep-set eyes make all this seem a little too clinical and a little nauseating. But what does that matter? He hits the spot: the audience are in stitches.
