A festival goers guide to this show: Have a few drinks; prepare some funny questions - keep it light and fluffy; attend the show; ask Jesus a question. Simple.
He is only a comedian, not actually the Messiah
Don’t ask questions about: Gaza, Israel, human suffering, cancer, etc. he is only a comedian, not actually the Messiah.
The show’s premise of inviting audience members to heckle Christ, better known as Josh Ladgrove, makes the night only as good as you want it to be. The night this writer attended, it seemed to be more reserved than raucous, more political than percussive, and made for a relatively disappointing night considering the recommendations pouring out from The Pleasance.
Ladgrove’s setting was striking, standing onstage, hands hung on hooks on the cross and stood and pensively waited for the barrage of insults and questions to come tumbling down. This vulnerability did not let it put him off and allowed people to touch him, stroke his beard and at one point enact a hilarious version of the scene from Titanic. Though a barrage didn’t come, he did handle heckles well.
At times in the show it lost its rhythm, and though there were attempts to break up the absences of sound, it didn’t quite go far enough. A little spiel or even cracking a few jokes in the silences would have made it more appealing. Also, for someone whose entire show is a scathing “Fuck you” to the Catholic Church and organised religion as a whole, there seemed to be a lack of research that rather undermined some really good satirical improvised humour.
Overall, if you obey the guide to the show you will have a good night. This is a show that is reminiscent of Comedy 101: Give some comedy to gain some comedy.
