Jamie Demetriou was in the Bristol Review last year at the Fringe and now returns to go solo in ‘Jamie Demetriou’s Peoples Day’, his new show in which he showcases just some of the many brilliant characters he has created.
Even before the show started, Demetriou was a perfect gentleman to his audience. He wasn’t even running late but he kept telling us how long it would take until the show started. An apology about all his characters being tall went over well and proved an intriguing taster for the show.
Demetriou had a special guest, Jack Barry, whose friendly banter was gentle, funny and well received by the audience. I even liked his farting on a train story, despite usually having a strict no tolerance policy on toilet humour.
Demetriou’s characters ranged from the surreal to the true to life. His first character is Big D, a simple MC who reveals he thought Edinburgh was a music festival and doesn’t know what to do now he’s here. His next was a sinister nanny who slowly spun round and stared cross-eyed at his audience, telling us revolting stories about ourselves as children. His third were two disco Daddies, one of whom possessed the highest voice you’ve ever heard. Finally he presented Michael Eggwater, a desperate ‘smooth-talking’ forty-something, doing stand up in order to win back the heart of his estranged daughter in the audience. Each act was hilarious and they were strikingly distinct from each other. I do think he needs to work on the endings to a few of his acts, but apart from that he was flawless. They were a little weak, and didn’t have the hilarity factor of the rest of each act.
Demetriou’s characterisation, comedy and way with words are all impeccable. He was unrecognisable in every role. Watching him is like being beaten up with a stick of funny.
