Dave Bibby is a multi-talented comedian who crosses into many genres, and his award nominated show (for its poster design) Crazy Cat Lad-y is something of a one-man variety performance, with stand-up, characters, rap, beatboxing, songs, sketches and a live gameshow that proved to be a real treat for a Globe Bar filled to breaking point.
A highly capable performer who could very plausibly develop cult status
As the audience file in, there are some generic cat videos playing on his screen, and Bibby starts the show with his cheeky in-your-face style, in a cat onesie. It appears this show is about cats, but this is mostly confined to the opening act. He confidently jumps around between personas with great command of the stage and control of his voice, before continuing with a slideshow of funny cat photos. The material is all of good quality, with plenty of interaction with the audience over a fun, yet unoriginal, sing-the-next-line bit to ‘90s ads and songs. It transpires from this point that age targeting is very much the key factor in determining our capacity to relate to the content.
Bibby discusses his favourite childhood movie, Hook, with some excellent jokes and a rap, and Hook becomes the central running theme for the duration, even eclipsing the significance of cats. He builds up to his songs well and they always entertain, but one feels that the potential for epic lyrical content isn’t quite met. The stand-up and physicality with which Dave delivers it, however, is top notch. The second half of the show is very much a send-up of ‘lad culture’, with a silly gameshow all about banter, using a couple of audience members, that I guarantee is more fun than you’re currently imagining it could be.
The final act sees two audience members assisting Bibby in acting out a mini-movie. The members are carefully selected, put on a good show, and clearly had a lot of fun with it. He concludes well with an attempt at a grandiose finale that is strong but not the killer impact or huge last laugh Crazy Cat Lad-y deserves.
Bibby is a very talented writer and performer – versatile, with a great understanding of who he is on stage and how to target a show well. That target audience is mid-30s, and the further you are from his age the less you will feel he is speaking to you. There’s a lot of fun here and not a dull moment, with plenty of variety and interaction, and a highly capable performer who could very plausibly develop cult status in this festival one day.
