Love- that enigmatic phenomenon that we’re all searching for. For centuries people have been trying to capture in words the indescribable, all-consuming, awesome power of the elusive emotion. Andrew Gentilli adds his profound thoughts to those of philosophers, theologians and poets who have spent their lives devoted to the subject; ‘strangulation contemplation’ is no laughing matter.
Gentilli offers different viewpoints on the subject of Love. From a Buddhist to a ‘pick-up artist’, Gentilli impersonates different characters and tells us of their stance on the matter. On the one hand we are told to fall in love with ourselves in order to become whole and on the other, we are told that love is just a nicer way of describing our inherent desire to procreate. Although his impressions are convincing and the arguments mildly interesting, as an audience we are left wondering ‘what is the point to this show?’ Gentilli seems more intent on perfecting his accents than actually including any comedy. Where are the jokes? Where are the punch-lines?
His idea to create a film called ‘Man Love’ allows him to display yet more impressions. Including the likes of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Arnold Schwarzenegger, we’ve seen them done a thousand times over. Although not the worst impressions I’ve ever seen, Gentilli seriously needs to work on his originality.
His only attempt to bring some of his own personality to the act is his ‘sexual confessions’ section. These graphic stories seem a little out of character with his rather sweet demeanour and again, they seem to go nowhere. Gentilli needs to find some direction and decide whether he wants to educate, shock or entertain. His combination of all three seems to fall flat on the audience.
However, Gentilli seems like a lovely fellow. He saves himself with his self-deprecating humour and a play on the fact that he’s ‘not very good at talking to girls’. His love affair with outdated, overused impressions just lets him down.
