Laurence Clark sets out in his wheelchair to reclaim the word 'spastic' from its prejudiced past, armed only with slides, some secret camera film work and a wicked sense of humour.
Fed up with worthies 'raising awareness' of the disabled, Laurence Clark sets out with his (self-professed) shit-loads of PowerPoint to look at how we use language to define people. From the 1980's School For Spastics which he attended, through reactions to Heather Mills-McCartney, Laurence looks with a cheeky humour at reactions (and in some cases non-reactions) to the words used to describe disability.
Filled with great visual gags and one-liners, Laurence makes use of secretly filmed clips of him carrying out street collections for a series of increasingly unlikely charities, as well as market research for some implausible but real products from the States (Spazz lip-gloss anyone?).
As a kid, one of Laurence's ambitions was to be in a boy-band a desire that he had thought to be unachievable due to his difficulty in speaking. Until now.
Meeting up with three other guys with cerebral palsy, his newly formed band (the Spastic Fantastic of the show's title) take London's South Bank by storm, performing a selection of hits in their not-immediately recognisable style (and never has the phrase 'inimitable' been more apt). This too is filmed and played back during his set, which leads to a fun round of Name The Tune with the audience, complete with prizes.
All good knock-about stuff, and a wee bit more thought provoking and interesting than most of the other comedy you'll see at the Fringe this year. However, it keeps the comedy right at the forefront, never straying into worthiness despite the underlying message. Laurence is a quick-witted and sharp comedian grab a ticket for his great show which will have you well and truly rolling with laughter.
