Chris Kent managed to fill most of the room in the Turret of the Gilded Balloon, but there are many others comedians far more deserving of these bums on seats. Though Kent had some interesting and topical humour up his sleeve, he overall fails to deliver. We keep waiting for him to find his stride and rhythm but it never happens. There was very little interlinking his stories, no common thread to pull on and nothing to call back to throughout the performance.
Overall the performance feels like being stuck at the bar with an awkward drunk trying to tell you his life story. This does not necessarily mean that some of the stories are not interesting, but you never feel comfortable or entirely sure when you are supposed to laugh. Kent’s attempts at banter with his reasonably open audience seemed far more confrontational than they needed to be, picking on only one or two of the small crowd throughout and obviously making them uncomfortable. Audience banter is often entertaining when done well, but Kent needs to ease up on needling his audience.
As strange a criticism as this is, the show felt untruthful. We should not necessarily expect comedians to bear their souls on the stage, but there were moments when Kent was obviously lying to get in some cheap jokes. That said there were some very funny moments, such as the analysis of a poster that Kent stole from an Australian toilet and his potential career in pornography. His descriptions and jokes about his parents were both touching and very funny. There is certainly potential to Kent’s act as he has a good eye for jokes, but he needs to work on his stage presence and the flow of the routine.
