There is something vaguely terrifying about Charlie Chuck, real name David Kear. With big hair and a funny suit, the act is remarkably similar to a clown act, if the clown was having a mental episode or a bad acid trip. Completely insane and brandishing a big stick, he is nearly incomprehensible, sweaty, shouting nonsense and delivering jokes with no apparent punch-line. Charlie Chuck's show is forty-five minutes of unsettling anarchy.
His set begins as he destroys a drum kit with over-vigorous bashing, pieces of stick and drum kit flying from the stage. Don't sit in the front row if you bruise easily. His sidekick, Babette, joins in with the havoc, singing along with comically awkward mannerisms.
Randomly baa-ing and barking, twitching and hitting things, Chuck tells random stories and croaks out some odd words, but nothing really happens; they sing, he 'talks', he tries to do some magic tricks and further chaos ensues.
This show is not to everyone's taste. Best known for his appearance on The Reeves and Mortimer Show, the Charlie Chuck persona dates back to the 1980s so he is something of a cult phenomenon. The audience seemed to comprise of his fans, expectant and prepared for the violent abuse of their senses. If you’re not a fan, however, you may end up cowering in your seat, wondering what on earth is going on.
His blurb in the Fringe guide is somewhat misleading: ‘Mixed magic, cabaret, organ playing’ doesn't even begin to cover the absurdist, surrealist mayhem that is Cirque du Charlie Chuck. The show is definitely unique and it is entertaining, in the broadest sense of the word.
