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Garry Starr Performs Everything

 
Alec Martin Review by Alec Martin 5 Published: 13 Aug 2018 Underbelly, Cowgate Show Dates: 2 Aug 2018-26 Aug 2018

Starr is a bag of nervous insecurity, wrapped up in a paper thin façade of theatrical overconfidence. Featuring an Elizabethan ruffle and often very little else, Garry Starr is one of the most perfectly pitched comedy characters you’ll see at the Fringe this year. As he endeavours to achieve his lofty goal of saving theatre, he takes the crowd on a riotous journey through a long list of dramatic forms.

Garry Starr is one of the most perfectly pitched comedy characters you’ll see at the Fringe

What ensues is a set that has more highlights than an episode of Celebrity Scissorhands. Amongst the standouts are a slapstick session which descends into chaotic violence; a tragic scene which puts the Spears into Shakespeare; and a spaghetti-heavy romantic piece which feeds the hearts and stomachs of audience members. I could go on, but feel special praise has to be awarded to his modern masked theatre segment - a section which may alienate some, but was ultimately hilarious. Great actors bare their souls. Starr goes one better.

This high-flying thesp is the creation of Australian comic Damian Warren-Smith. The École Philippe Gaulier graduate has packed his show with clowning, physical humour and perfectly pitched comic riffs on a whole range of theatrical institutions. It’s not entirely a one man performance either, with the comedian often drawing on audience members for support. These interactions sometimes ask a lot of the audience members, but they are always good natured and managed expertly by Starr.

Theatre buffs will be in heaven watching Garry Starr save theatre, but there is more than enough riotous material to ensure consistently big laughs for all. The apparently ailing medium of theatre might not quite be in the dire state that Starr claims, but he certainly is an electrifying shot in the arm for comedy and an incredibly entertaining act.

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The Blurb:

Disgraced actor Garry Starr is going it alone. Following his dismissal from the Royal Shakespeare Company due to "artistic differences", he is determined to defy his critics by performing every single genre of theatre in under 60 minutes, thus saving the performing arts from their inevitable extinction. A hilarious new physical comedy about overambition and underachievement from Damien Warren-Smith and director Cal McCrystal. 'An anarchic play-date with a six-foot-two toddler with a mop of fuzzy hair, no inhibitions and far too much raspberry cordial on board. It's an exhilarating feeling' ***** (GlamAdelaide.com.au). **** (Herald Sun).