Comic actor and character comedian Lee Fenwick brings his latest created personality to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Geoff, the loveable tramp.
Hailing from Newcastle, street-dweller Geoff sees himself as an all-round entertainer. He dances - with questionable success - and greets the crowd earnestly by reading life lessons from his latest money-making scheme: Inspirational Bog Roll. From a piece of string on his arm is supposedly tied an imaginary dog, who gets biscuits throughout the show.
Geoff seems to be missing a fully planned hour of fun, preferring to ask the audience what they would like to do. What ensues are a number of party games, after a necessary health and safety warm-up, of course. Audience interaction is in abundance.
Fenwick is very comfortable on stage, and his tramp persona is convincing and energetically conveyed. However, a lot of the ‘Geoff’ material often feels a little aimless, and whether or not this is deliberate – a result of putting a tramp in front of an audience – or rather a fault of the show itself, could not be said.
There are some very fun moments, such as a ghost tour of the premises and a guest spot on the Stephen K. Amos show. In future, it would be nice to see a slightly more human model for Geoff, rather than a slightly two-dimensional generic hobo figure, but ultimately the show is a lot of fun and a novel idea.
Come prepared to join in and make a new friend!
